I LoVe......

Colorado
Cheap clothes and chairs at thrift stores
that my 'check engine' light is off (this has never happened in the history of the Postma family)
that that happened for free (thanks Brian!)
that I also got a sideview mirror for free
that the outdoors can make me happy
that it is 70 degrees and it is also November
that my roommate can hug me after arguing
Inta Juice and the ginseng/licithin that is making me so happy!
that Sarah loves Fiest and is taking me to a concert
Free music and Radio stations that are simply amazing
cooking for friends who don't hate me when I screw it up
Sunshine
Jesus
My Bible study that is sooo amazingly comfortable, safe, and inviting
My pastor who won't let us stay comfortable
Fresh Air
That I am doing grown-up things in an un-grown up way
That I can talk to all my family members and that they all care about me no matter how far away I am
That life is a rollercoaster
That I can smell and see and be and live
Irish music on the radio
Oreos
That my computer 'works' and I didn't have to pay a thing
That the mountains are only an hour away and so is Denver
That my back hurts because of go-karts and kicking butt at it
Awkwardness. seriously. Embrace awkwardness, it is what binds us together.

Ok... you think i'm rambling, crazy, high or something right now, but it is all good. I'm having a terrific day and I am attributing it all to a)Jesus b)people around me c)the weather and d)intajuice!

All in a week's work

So long, no blog. But here I am again, and this time with something to say! (and there was great rejoicing)

So this is my week in a nutshell:

Sunday night: reluctantly call Mason back after I figure out he knows I'm still awake: darn Facebook (aka stalker program)
Monday morning: recieve telephone call from school at 7:45 when I should have been at school 10 minutes earlier! yikes, but if it weren't for talking to Mason, my cell phone wouldn't have been nearby and I would have been much, MUCH later! yay Providence! I had set my alarm for 5:45 PM! oops!
End of 1st hour class (still Monday!) Student falls off chair and sprains ankle. great.....
Tuesday: Bible study meets for first time. We joke through our prayer requests as Sarah needs a big fish and I need a kick in the pants. Guys cringe so much when you say that!
Wednesday: Babysit a kid with an attention span lasting 1/2 the length of any activity!
Thursday: Listen to Jack Johnson in Library class (the sharing song from Curious George soundtrack) oh Jack!
Tomorrow: Try my first field trip! Here goes nothing!
Saturday: First football game? --- EVER
Sunday: a hike up in the 'high country' to see some pines turning their colors!

I miss you already

I'm actually listening to a song right now that is entitled "I miss you" by And then I Turned Seven (now called Jamestown story). How fitting for my life right now. I hate good-byes. I had a few yesterday and found myself tearing up considerably. I never really cry when I'm actually saying good-bye to someone, but later it hits me like a ton of bricks.
Good-byes suck. That's what I usually say. And that they are super awkward. By the way, I just want to give a big shout out to Andrea for acknowledging such awkwardness! But really, the thing about good-byes is that all of a sudden you begin to realize how much people really mean to you and how much you mean to them. That's a good feeling. That's the stuff that makes me tear up.
For a person who has found a great meaning to life by enjoying the life of others; being inspired, motivated, intrigued and challenged by others in bold and subtle ways, life is going to change drastically. Most of you know my desire and need for variety, that this change will be ultimately a very good thing. I thank you for your encouragement, even from such a distance (as unwilling as that condition might be). Most of all I want you to know that I wish it was possible to be near all of you! As much as I love traveling, I wish it was possible to revert back to the days when all your family and friends lived within 5 miles of eachother. But I do love traveling, and here comes my next big trip!

Officially Grown-up (or so it appears...)

Yeah, so I got a job. Strange to think about it really. I'm moving to a town I've never seen before. One more week and I'll be in Greeley (Colorado!). With mountains for a background (that don't block the sunset!) and every Friday off (that's right!) The school is Dayspring Christian Academy and it is a four-day school week! Longer days of course, but I'll take that deal. Some would refer to it as 'posh'. I might agree, but I figure I got alot to make up for in my first year of teaching that I don't think any job could be 'posh' just yet. Oh and here's the wierdest part: It's 1/3 art and it's 2/3 library. One class for middle school and one class for high school and the rest is library time. I get to read books to children which makes my sister-in-law Amanda WAY jealous. It's fun to remind her of that, but in all reality I'm going to be calling her ALL the time for help! I have alot to learn!

May (Flower); June (Bug)

The month of June. Weddings of Friends and Family. Trips to IA, NE, CO, UT, NV, CA, AZ, NM, WI, IL, IN (and back again to MN). But I'm in IA now. Do you follow? me neither. How many people can say they've been to the Grand Canyon twice in a year. I can. I'm crazy. But I like it the way. Oh yeah, and I also saw both coasts within two weeks. And wittle brudder gradumatated in May. Now I'm settling back into the midwest for a spell. Dordt Discovery Days and Junior High drama is upon me. Meanwhile, my mind swarms with possibilities of where my life might take me in the next few months. My creative imagination takes me to the urban environment of Minneapolis, to a less different, but farther away atmosphere of Colorado, or as foreign as a school in Liberia. Who knows? Surely not I.

Two God-stories for you as you partake of my little adventure called the future: So I emailed a friend of a friend's parent asking about the boys and girls ranch that he runs. He emails back and says that he isn't at the ranch anymore, he is the director of a school. AND this school needs an art teacher! Well, then..! That is the Colorado job.

At about the same time, my sister-in-law Amanda is telling me about her old roommate who has been in Africa for a year. This girl's team members are a bit emotionally unstable. One of them is so emotionally unstable that she is not allowed to return to Africa. Leaving a spot open (for me?!?) Why not?

Dale Chihuly blown glass at the Fairchild Tropical Gardens (Miami Florida)

Above we have the feet in the Great Salt Lake Yay! Road tRiP. Below we have the perfect picnic lunch: Target parking lot!

Pre-Wedding Fun: Go-Karts! And below: Rehearsal! Yay sister! and Jon has the giggles. What else is new?

Life

www.quizilla.com/users/superFAT/quizzes/What%20Peanuts%20Gang%20Character%20Are%20You?/

Check this out! It's a quiz to figure out which Peanuts character you are. You would never guess which one I am! ok... I'll just tell you. I was Pig Pen! I took it again and I was Snoopy though! That fit better: fearless though cautious, you can be pretty quiet and can catch the attention of anyone with your intelligence and imagination...you've got multiple personalities.

k... now a real blog:
Summer. Oh summer. Slow, enjoyable summer. Weddings. Roadtrips. Unemployment.

Well, that last one's a newbie for me, but all the same it is summer and life is good. The only bad stuff is that last bit about no job. I'm working on it but nothing coming. Lots of back up plans. AusPaire (sp?) (overseas nannying). Girls ranch. Urban Homeworks.

Enough about that! God will provide. For now: Live it up my friends. LIVE IT UP! It's my last summer. So far this summer I have enjoyed 2 visits with Chris and Amanda, my little brothers graduation (wierd!) and a free trip to Florida. Can't beat that now can ya? And on top of it all, I get to go to California this week with 3 amazing people to see 2 amazing people get married, and see 1 amazing ocean! like I said: LIVE IT UP!

Can I vent?

So no one ever commented on my gorgeous Church Rock kids. What is up with that!?
Whatev.

But now I gotta vent. I wanna say something and I want people to hear it, so I guess this is my venue for that.

You know how we are always saying things like "As Christians...." I hate that phrase. Well, maybe that isn't quite appropriate to say, cuz I have said it too. But I just don't like it and find it completely dualistic. It's like we are saying "The Christian part of us should feel or do this...." or that we have to remind ourselves of the fact that we are Christians or something. I just feel like this phrase is evidence of the dualistic behavior of our culture. I hope that we can slowly eliminate this phrase from our lingo because I think non-Christians here that and sub-consciously or even consciously laugh. And I don't blame them.

Sorry about that, but I had to get it out. Let me know what you think. Next time I'll be more upbeat, I promise :)

Last Week

My final week here has been a whirlwind of traveling, finishing projects and packing. I'm in that final stage right now. That dreadful part of any trip when one must leave. One must pack up all their belongings and stuff it together in a car. Ick. The worst part of packing was when I came across my hat, mittens, and scarf. I wanted to tuck them at the bottom of a box. But alas, I must keep them handy. Strange. Cursed items!

In retrospect, my week started out marvelously. I was sent on a field trip to Santa Fe. I traveled alone, taking in the city and the art with only myself to probe and ponder. Although, the people of Santa Fe, and just this whole area, are extremely kind and generous of spirit. So many people talked to me and helped me find my way. The first person I talked to was a vendor and she had some prints so I talked to her about Jake Van Wyk and she told me what she does and how she does it and her inspiration and then she told me all the great shops to see on Canyon Road and gave me a map and everything! It was perfect! Especially since one of the Museums was closed and I would have been floundering otherwise!! I did go to the Georgia O'Keefe Museum though and became completely convinced that she is absolutely amazing!!

This is one of my favorite sculptures on Canyon Road. And below is the closest thing to home I've seen in a long time.

Also in the art room, we had presentations of their paper plate sculptures. What d'ya think?

One last tribute to Rehoboth as I give you a lovely picture of the art room. No comment. You can comment, I'm not gonna.

At church rock the kids ALL hugged me (no really, they all hugged me, like, at the same time!) I was pretty much mobbed. And they gave me a lovely note too. It was precious!

This will be the last post I have under this title. This is sad. But the show must go on... or as said so eloquently: "that the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse."

Crevice wetness

How many blondes does it take to cross a river?

One to take a dive

Two to throw a tire in

Three to cross correctly

and one to walk across like the tires aren't even there.

Well, we weren't all blondes, but the story sure doesn't show it. This was supposed to be a road, but we decided to walk/find our own path instead of push a car through it. It took us three chances before we found a spot that actually worked for us. And, as you can tell, it only sort of worked.

This is the crevice. We were essentially climbing right in between two rocks, suspending ourselves between them. This was by far the scariest par as we had to round a corner and run across to safety. Below we have a long stretch of crevice which was scary but really, the only fear would be getting stuck by dropping too far down into the crevice. It's probably the most awkward thing I will ever do. At the end of the crevice you pretty much fall out of the rock and into.....


....A small lake! I had this bright idea of giving myself a little extra momentum as to get out of the puddle quicker, but really I just got myself in deeper. I was soaked! and the 1/2 mile hike back to the car against strong winds (the very winds that made this crevice) didn't help any. This was actually a week ago, so no pneumonia whatsoever. Praise the Lord!

Church Rock...What's missing?

Every Tuesday after school, I go over to Church Rock and give them their first real experience with art class. It's afterschool, so the kids are still really crazy. And we are in a gymnasium which has a tai kwon do class going on at the same time. So it is a huge challenge, but these kids are great!

This is Shawn. He is making a turtle. He's my favorite (Don't tell!) This week he asked me to bring him a plastic bag because he doesn't have a backpack! How sad!
These are two kindergarteners who somehow made better turtles than any other age group. I don't get how that works out. But they sure are pleased with themselves! (0r maybe they just like getting their picture taken!
Survey: What is missing from this picture? It should be obvious to you considering that this road comes from Church Rock and is going to interesect with Highway 66. Answer next week.

Just Gallup

No big traveling this weekend. Which is probably a good thing, because most of us are completely exhausted from teaching full time. I can't imagine what next year is going to look like teaching full time all the time all on my own!

So yeah, this weekend we just hung out around Gallup. We went shopping some downtown and went to the flea market (again!) ate at Grandpa's Grill, and so on. This morning we went to a church on the Reservation. That was quite the experience. People are walking in and out during most of the service. It is just really laid back and people can show up late because timeliness is not a part of the Navajo culture. They go back and forth between Navajo and English all the time which can get real confusing. I tried singing along with the Navajo songs, but gave up quickly enough. Not that they would care or anything. Navajo are probably the most accepting people I will ever know.

There was a small meal afterwards too, so we got to meet a few of the church members. One lady asked us if we could help her with a term paper she was writing for a UNM English class. So she is coming by tomorrow night and we are all gonna help her with that.

Pretty soon we are going to play street hockey right outdoors here and then take a hike through "The Crevice" I'm sure there will be pictures of that coming sooner or later.

Hey, check out my candles!! Thanks Lora! And be forever jealous all who are restricted from such activities! (Malicious snickering ensues)

P-Diddy

This is a picture my cooperating teacher drew as I taught a class for him. Apparently that's my new nickname. This just shows how awesome the guys I work with are! I did alot of teaching these last few days. I was also observed by my professor at Dordt, Mrs. Dr. K. Good times, great oldies. Actually it did go quite well. She was very encouraging. Monday was pretty much perfect.
Today on the other hand, well. One student just ruined it for me. He really got to me. At least I didn't let him know it! But I'm working on it. I might just have to get rid of him on Thursday! (insert evil laugh here). Actually it really kills me to just send him to the principal.
I totally like Jr. High. At least here I do. They are squirrely, yes, but they still have respect and they are amazingly creative and engaged in art and in conversation. It's a beautiful thing. (even though one of 'em stole from me last week. The little punk hardly even recognized what he was doing was wrong!!

So we stayed at the Shumate's (Donna and Mark) in Albuquerque this weekend. Man, I'm getting good at spelling Albuquerque! Anyway, they have an amazing home, full of art from all over the world. This is some of the African art. They also had this huge screen from Asia with gold painting. BEAUTIFUL!



This is one of those that I just couldn't stop looking at. I just don't get it, you know?



Now for Santa Fe, our real purpose in traveling this weekend. This is the miraculous staircase of the Chapel of Loretta. It's made without nails. "Defies engineering logic" Did you hear that Hjon and Chris?



I love being an art teacher! I get to take pictures of things other people can't. Like this amazingly CRAZY horse/warrior thing. Another thing I don't get but totally love because of it. I hope it's ok that I'm posting it... mmmmm..... please don't get me into trouble!

The oldest church in the U.S. cool, huh?

Classic Santa Fe.


Yep, that's right. I'm tainted. I've gambled away 1 whole dollar. But I must say, I almost made 1.80! but then I gambled it away. I can't be trusted, I just can't.

All in a day

The flea market a few weeks ago. Ghost town right? This is the real flea market.
This is an Arab dude trying to sell us stuff. These guys are good. All the merchants were amazing! So many stories! One dude used to make jewelry for Cher and other celebrities. I had a conversation with another Arab who is from Jerusalem and we just chatted a little bit. Another guy was in the movie Skinwalkers. He told us he was the guy in the birthday suit. What do you say to that?
Fire in the hole! Whoa, that's a big hole!

A fountain by Window Rock that we got a little creative with

Hiding in our own corner of Canyon de Chelley

We kinda got stuck in the canyon for a few hours cuz Eric had to hold the place together

Some of us, unfortunately not me, took a short cut down this crevice. But I got to take some amazing pictures!!

Paul Caponigro took some amazing pictures of Canyon de Chelly once upon a time. This is sort of like his (but his is in black and white)

And this is me one-upping Mr. Caponigro!

(And this is completely my own)

So lots of pictures today... but I just found out how to add more than 5! Hope you enjoyed them!

Wanna See?

Two posts in one day, sorry. But I finally got around to taking pictures of this beautiful place and thought you all might wanna see what it really looks like! (I took them on my snow day on Wednesday, so that is why their are specks of white on some of them) Yes, it really does snow in New Mexico you ignorant people you!

This is the tunnel under the interstate and off of Route 66. Rehoboth is like another world on the other side, and you barely see it from the interstate, so people say that there is a 'tunnel effect'
My room. This is only half of it. My roommate Jena has the exact mirror of this. Except it's more organized.
The outside of the dorm. So Jon, did you really roof this baby?
The hogbacks (and the church parking lot). If the snow will just go away, I'd go hiking back in there. Soon I might get a chance to go horseback riding there!
The art building! This is the side that people see, which also happens to be the side that doesn't show the massive cracks in the walls. This place is literally going to fall apart. Especially since they are building a new gym behind it.

A good day

Last week friday I left school quite frustrated by how things have been going. Today was much different. I played a game with the 8th graders (Two Truths and a Lie) to help them get to know me a little more. After that, the mood in the classroom was completely different. Next week I am teaching like 95 % so we have to be good to go. And I think I am! I'm getting closer and closer to the point where I am willing to actually apply for this job.

A cat followed a student to yearbook class today. I remembered that we had cat food in the dorm (for some unknown reason) so I brought her back and gave her lunch while I had mine. She was REALLY hungry because she literally attacked the food as I poured it into the bowl! She followed me back to the art building most of the way, but then some 8th graders caught her attention. She was starting to get a little obnoxious with her constant meowing, so I didn't mind. It was probably a good thing we parted while I still wasn't too attached :)

For any of you who maybe trying to call me, I will have my cell back up and running by Tuesday. Hakuna Matata.

Thoughts on the big hole in the earth

Don Miller calls it an inverted mountain, and that canyons don't get enough credit. I agree. Mountains you can see from a distance and get a good idea about what they are about. Canyons you have no idea until you are right up against it. And even then, the depths are unimaginable. We hiked down a little bit. A little bit is an hour long hike plus the hour and a half back up. I have no clue what it would be like to be at the bottom. Someday I would love to do that! There is waterfalls down there!!
I've really discovered my joy for hiking here. That goes way back to taking every possible trail or even trail blazing the small chunk of woods during camping trips... remember that brothers? I just always want to know what's around the corner, to see more (and to take more pictures!) and think more about creation and all the metaphors that come out of that. For the most part I don't have time enough to think about it, mostly because I'm so overwhelmed by EVERYTHING I'm seeing! I think I"m visually overstimulated. Is that possible for an artist to be? I think that it's more possible actually.

Reflected Sunset
No that isn't the bottom! You won't see it til you get there.
Only a short way down
There were lots of mules on the trail, but only this one horse!
He's a gonner.