i bid adieu...

its been almost a month since the school has ended but since i'm such a closure person... i have to acknowledge the school of design that i staffed in burtigny, switzerland. 13 creative, unique minds and personalities that looked at everything through a cheese grid... (really) ... and they have ended well and i have been honored to have worked with them... my friends... who have taught me more than they would know. (okay, sounds like im writing my thank you's in my debut cd) ... but anyhow, it only took a matter of a few days for us to spread out all over the world to return 'home.' ... i bid adieu to beautiful switzerland and once again have left a piece of my heart in another part of this world and hope to return there one day... sante to all i've come across these past 6 months... good times in the great land of cheese...

love at first bike

love at first bike... i know, cheesy. but it was true.... i went to visit some friends in amsterdam last week and right when i got there, i was pulled in by the city. amsterdam is famous for its free-spirited liberalism, diversity and tolerance and is the most bicyle friendly city of the world... yes, bicycle... a friend had an extra bike so we cruised around the city like it was our own. (thank you jesus that i didn't get run over)... and the whole city is like its being hugged by these canals. of course, seeing good friends always warms my heart, but to have amsterdam as the backdrop just made it all the better. in all the uniqueness and creativity of this city, i left utterly inspired...

(literally) writing with light

one clear night in the village of burtigny, there was once three friends named peter joanna and cliff... just when they thought summer was over, there came a warm bright night that inspired some photography experiments. it was mostly led by cliff (while peter and joanna were merely the subjects... also known as really really ridiculously good looking models) so for this particular random journal entry, joanna must commend cliff from jersey for being the photographer that he is... and for (literally) writing with light... and for taking joanna back into the school of photography for a second...

if i sit still enough...

with only my plastic bag in hand, i got off the easyjet flight about a week ago in beautiful edinburgh scotland! even though i found myself in the midst of all the UK airport security chaos from all the terrorist attacks, i made it. and it was all well worth it... i missed my chance a year and half ago to go to scotland when i was in the UK but another opportunity came up. a few weeks ago, my good friend joel came for a visit and convinced me to make it to scotland one weekend while he would be there (with the maui school of worship outreach)... it didn't take a lot to convince me and honestly, i couldn't have asked for a better time to go... with the Fringe going off (the worlds largest arts and cultural festival) there was heaps to see and reuniting with my friends from maui was such a sweet time.... it was so flippin amazing! i've decided i will go back to scotland one day... and discover more of the beautiful rich history of the scots... but for now... if i sit still enough in the silence, i can still hear the bagpipes carry a melody...

school of outter voice

i guess you can say that i wear my 'staff hat' for the school of design with a little bit more confidence than when i first started about 4 weeks ago. it has been a stange eerie process transitioning from being a student for 2 years to being a staff but its been such a learning experience. this season is definitely a time for me to sit on a spring board into traning and leadership skills for future plans. i must say that the students in this school are amazing natural talented divergent extroverted people who... i must add... like to practice their '"outter voice." :) they are great and love 'em to pieces... im learning right with them and tapping into God's creative as we create, design and be inspired...

kiss the world awake...

once in awhile, you hear a quote or phrase that just makes you stop... and think.... and then stop again because its just so darn good... i heard one from the amazing sue rinaldi herself, who quoted a writer that said we must be people who "kiss the world awake." whooa... "kiss the world awake"... there came a revelation, that we as christians, have been given a responsibility to gently go, with all that we are, knowing in confidence that God is living in us... to create a response... and wake up those who are lost and dying in this world... lets kiss them awake... not kiss them to death...