Welcome 2016!

The past two years, I have posted about my yearly goals. And maybe they were too unrealistic, or maybe they were just too general/big. As I was thinking about what I want to accomplish this year, I came to the realization that goals set to be completed at some random, vague time during an entire year does not work well for me. Most of the goals I posted about for 2014 and 2015 remain uncompleted. While I do still have some general goals for this year, I have decided to set weekly and monthly goals instead. 

I might decide to post them occasionally, but no promises. Maybe if I keep them to myself and quietly work on them on a weekly basis, I will accomplish more this year. I did just commit to memorizing Scripture each week; my friend and I plan on calling once a week to quote our verses to each other. Hopefully this will motivate me to actually memorize more! 

And I do still have goals for visiting new countries this year! The past two years I did not reach my travel goals (I blame school), but this year looks to have more potential in that area. I've been working on travel plans for the past few weeks and am getting super excited about this year's itinerary. Maybe I'll share soon.... ;) 

Farewell 2015

Well, 2015 is gone. 

In some ways it was a mellow year; school kept me pretty occupied and my international travel was held to a minimum. But it was a good year nonetheless. The most prominent part of the year was school. I took a full spring semester, one class during the summer and another full fall semester. And tested out of 3 classes during that time also. Some days, it sure felt like all I did was homework. But my Undergrad is completed and yes, I am relieved. 

Other highlights from the year include:

My first niece being born! She's almost a year old already. And even though she lives several thousands miles away, I've been blessed to see her 3x this year. 

Traveling in the Lower 48- I went 3x this year for a total of roughly 6 weeks and was in 11 different states. 

Mongolian family in Colorado

USS Alabama in Mobile

Navy Pier in Chicago

Memorial Day in Wisconsin

backwoods Indiana

southern Cali

The wonderful experience with work in the field of ESL. Had some amazing coworkers this summer and great students. It was a rewarding time teaching English and exploring various places in Fairbanks with my students. 

learning English

exploring Fairbanks (with strangers photobombing)

Then there was that trip to Arctic Canada that was epic, crazy, fun and slightly dangerous all rolled into one.

autumn in the Arctic includes snow

Canadian friends

Welcome 2016! Looking forward to some grand adventures! :D

Christmas at Home

Can you believe Christmas was 3 weeks ago? and I am just now getting around to posting about our Christmas, but who minds hanging on a little longer to that happy time of year!? This was my 3rd consecutive holiday season at home in Alaska, but the past two years I've been housesitting, so have still missed some of the excitement leading up to the Big Day. (and it really is a big day at my house). So, I was pretty stoked that I got to be living at home, eating goodies, decorating the house/tree, wrapping presents and keeping secrets from the siblings about who got who what. Course, school put a little damper on the holiday spirit, as the entire week before Christmas, I was still frantically trying to tie up loose ends. The school schedule this year was horrible; we had finals only one week before Christmas Day. 

My older brother had to work Christmas Day, but my sis-in-law and nephew came over to celebrate with us. He was more into the action this year, though he was soon bored with opening presents and wanted to know when we could go sledding. Ha! It was a nice relaxing day with the family...

before there was wrapping paper covering the floor

not sure who's more excited about the ice skates

pretty awesome mug and hoodie

don't try this at home....

Merry Christmas from the Greenfields!

A Little Sunshine!

This past summer, when I realized that Alaska Airlines was having some great deals on tickets, I knew I had to go somewhere sometime, just to utilize such a good deal. (side note* you know you're a travel addict, when you plan a trip just cause the tickets are cheap) So, during the summer, I purchased a RT ticket to Los Angeles for the week of Thanksgiving. As the time got closer, I began second-guessing myself... afterall, it was my final semester of college, I was taking the most challenging course of my degree, was working too much and it was 2 weeks before the end of my semester, you know when all the big papers/projects are due. But it was well worth it- especially as I got to enjoy some wonderful sunshine!

I was hoping for a little warmer weather, but at least I got some sunny days! One morning in the Cali desert, it was a mere 9 degrees! One person told me that in the 20 years he had lived in that area, the coldest he had ever seen it was 6 degrees. 

While in the state, I hit the road and visited as many people as possible. Picked up my good friend Jen (our first time meeting in person, though we've been friends for 3+ years) and we road-tripped to Vegas, where we both have a brother. Spent Thanksgiving Day with my brother and his family, along with some of their friends. The next day, went down to the Strip with Jen and her family.... that was a, uh.... interesting night. And LONG night. But at least we made memories! 

Went back to Cali on Saturday to hang out with some awesome people! The Wilsons are some of the most fun-loving people I know! We had a great time trading stories about missions trips, being crazy with their three kids and eating great food. 

It may have been a very full week, but it was relaxing to not have to go to work or school for several days! course I had to hit the books hard when I returned, but everything was completed on time. And I am now a college graduate!! :D (just waiting on my diploma to arrive in the mail)  

Bachelor Degree- check!

Well, I did it. In a few weeks, my Bachelor diploma will arrive in the mail. 

It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears.... figuratively speaking at least. It was a ton of work including many late nights, long days, and mental stretching. Probably the hardest part of earning my degree was the fact that I worked a regular job (and sometimes 2 or 3 jobs) throughout the process. And as hard as it is to admit, I'm not as young as I once was. When I worked on my Associate degree just five years ago, I consistently stayed up to 1 o'clock in the morning doing homework. But this past year and half, that was a lot harder to do. There were nights I stayed up late for sure, but my body craved sleep way more than it did years ago. But nonetheless, I survived. Some semesters I felt that I had no life outside of school; even when I was working or driving, or trying to relax, my brain was already thinking of the next assignment. But its all over now! Praise the Lord, for his strength and grace that saw me through this process. 

Many people have asked me what's next...well for one, I plan on catching up on sleep. (though this week, that's not really happening, since I'm working nights, as well as days) I have been enjoying the Christmas season with my family and just relaxing for change. I've been able to read some books, of my own choosing, :) and work on some projects I've put off for a long time. As for what's next. Well, guess you'll just have to wait and see. I'm sure it'll be an adventure whatever happens.... :D

Here's a few random pictures from the past almost two years of school. These may represent some of the motivating factors that kept me persevering-

teaching my nephew about AK hockey :) 

Enjoying sunshine despite sub-zero temps

doing homework by oil lantern - no electricity for days

hosting friends breaks up those long nights of study

nothing like sushi and free dessert to renew the spirit

sunrise!

facetiming a very dear friend half a world away

Procrastination and School don't mix well....

Here I sit at my desk, writing a blogpost.... when I should be writing something else. Saturday has been my self-proclaimed homework day for the past six weeks or so. I usually try to do some homework throughout the week, as I have a few minutes here and there, but Saturdays are my big day to get a lot done. But honestly, I'm a little burnt out. I have this one class that is challenging, like really challenging. I don't understand a lot of what I am required to read and then write about. And it doesn't help that it's an online class, so there is no classroom teaching time for the professor to assist my understanding. 

I've been doing okay in my last few classes, even the one which is challenging. But I think I've hit the mid-semester hurdle. I am just tired of reading, studying, and writing about stuff I don't care about. But must keep going...

The good news is, I am almost done!! For real done. :) I have 7 more weeks of school left, for my entire undergrad degree. I am taking four classes and need to test out of one more and I will have fulfilled all my degree requirements. So, come December 18th, I will be officially done with college! Hopefully, not long after that I will have my diploma in hand. (let's not think about master's degree for a little while) 

In other news, winter is here. It threatened last month to overwhelm us when it dumped 15 inches of wet snow in a day or two. But that melted over time and we had cool, but not cold weather for a few more weeks. But this past week, it dropped to below freezing and we've had a few inches of snow fall. I think it's here to stay. I'm looking forward to winter activities, though gotta do that school stuff first. :/ 

before the winter came for real

winter in Mongolia, a few years back