Adventurous Life

 A few years ago I started consistently journaling. It wasn't something I normally enjoyed doing, but I found that if I added scrapbooking to it (tickets, programs, receipts, stickers, pictures, etc), then I actually enjoyed it more. Each year has its own journal, and I buy a new journal every December in anticipation of January. A lot goes into picking out the journal. It needs to look different than the previous year's journal and feel...good. Not just how it actually feels in my hands but also the feeling I get from the journal about the year ahead. What color or design is catching my eye? What will keep me coming back so that I write? Because of all that I put into my journals they need to have covers that can withstand travel and being thrown into a bag, the elastic band on the outside to keep it all together, sturdy binding, and paper thick to keep the glue from staining.* My journal has to be strong and sturdy to be able make it through the year.  Today as I was conside...

Like many of you, I too have had my daily life affected by the coronavirus. Last week officials in Austria began issuing travel and meeting restrictions for the next 2 weeks that then became more drastic and widespread on Sunday. For the next 4 weeks, we are not allowed to be in public spaces, we cannot go outside with other people unless we live with them and have a purpose to be outside, non-essential businesses are closed, travel restrictions have been enacted, the civil services has been increased and along with the police will patrol and enforce the restrictions. You can read more about the restrictions (in German) here . Sounds almost like living in a militaristic state doesn’t it? That’s one perspective, and not the one I choose to have. I see it as a government trying to prevent large-scale infection, sickness, and death using the resources that they have. Hardly any country in the world took the news from China seriously at the beginning. Italy is an example as the hospi...

A couple of weeks ago, I was asked to share a testimony at my organization's regional conference regarding what I had learned about hope during my residence permit issues. Below is what I wrote out and shared. It has been slightly edited for the context of this page.  I arrived in Austria in November 2017 on a tourist visa. What we didn't know at the time is that I would live the next year on a 90-day rotation between Austria and Ireland while I waited on a decision about my residence permit. We found out that my residence permit was denied about a week before my tourist visa expired. I had a short amount of time to get my Austrian affairs in order and to make plans regarding Ireland. At first, I saw going to Ireland as a great adventure and opportunity. I get to live in Galway, Ireland?! I had never been there before and had always wanted to go. I love the ocean and was going to be able to live next to it. I would also get to know different people from my organization. This ...