A place to call home

We are all moved in to our new place in Hilton Head!  We are thankful that God has provided us a place within walking distance of the church and pretty close to everything else as well.  I am thankful that Andrew persisted in waiting for the "perfect place."  I was determined to decide and have things done, but he felt that we should wait.  Glad we did!

A spacious living room! 

Dinner and music, anyone?

I am hoping to *finally* have time to actually plan meals and cook more. 

Master bedroom

A sweet kitty

We have a guest room!  Please, please, please come and visit us!  This place turns into a nursery in January!

My favorite part of our new place is our back porch, complete with turtles and an alligator that live in the "lagoon".

A big summer (in Instagrams)

 It was a big summer for the Shanks!

June 

We traveled to France, Spain, and Italy with 17 SLCA students.

The packing begins!  Andrew has LOTS of books.

Baby Shank will be joining us in January!

July

Our *amazing*  Life Group help us load the U-haul that carried all of our things to a storage unit in Hilton Head.
We have WAY too much stuff :(  As we loaded, I found myself making mental vows to reduce future clutter and unnecessary items: "One thing in, one thing out," or "Give one thing away everyday."  We will see if this actually happens.

My last Cross Country event was our 3 day summer camp in Hendersonville, NC.
After 7 years of coaching, it is hard to imagine a fall without crunchy leaves and running through Latta Plantation.  So many of these students have impacted my heart and my life for always.

 We said goodbye to family and friends in Charlotte, including my sweet niece and nephew: Dakota and Cheyenne.

August

Andrew arrived in Hilton Head to begin work in July, and I joined in August.   It is hard to believe that we live in a place that most people come to vacation.  We both find it a little ironic to be living at the beach, since the place we most love is the mountains of Virginia.

Roomies!  We stayed with Tim and Stephanie Pitzer for 2 weeks
while we waited for our new place to open up. 

Visit with the Vickerys!  Some sweet Charlotte friends happened to be in Hilton Head with their family.  We hope to see lots more Charlotte friends soon!  (Note: please take that as a hint to come visit us!!)

We are finally moved in to our new place.  Every thing is unpacked and decorated.
And no home is complete without a kitty (Jemimah Butterworth)!!  We adopted her from the Humane Society.

During a short trip back to Charlotte, Christina and Camilla helped me register for baby items!  I am thankful to have sweet friends who have just recently had babies and can point me in the right direction.

It's a girl!!!  In a family full of boys, Shank girls are rare.
We are keeping the name a secret for now, but I can't wait to share!!!

 I am thankful to be making new friends in Hilton Head, especially friends who run!!!!

Vampire!

Facebook is a vampire
it sucks the life out of me
though it looks really attractive
and seems to offer all I want
it really is a liar
giving me nothing that I need






drawing by me :)

On purpose

The past few fays I have been wondering to myself how I can live life on purpose.  I feel pulled in so many directions by different desires and passions. 

One day I want to move to Mexico.  I have always wanted to go, and the door is open.  It seems like the right time.  Life would be simpler there.  Church and School connected.  One group of friends. Small town.

Then the next day I want to stay here.  I love my job, I love my students, and I love my friends.  I find myself dreaming up ideas for classes next year and my mind begins planning for the 2011 Cross Country season and a trip to Spain/Italy with students over Spring Break.

Then at home I am pulled by other desires.  Guitar lessons, so I can be a rock star one day.  Maybe I want to open up a Spanish Language Cafe.  Perhaps I want to try to write kids books. Maybe I will get a Masters in Spanish.  Maybe I will go back and study clarinet.

And then there are all those desires and ideas that are completely out of my hands- marriage, family, adoption, homeschooling.

How I am supposed to know what to do with all the ideas in my head?  I end up chasing everything and going nowhere.  I want to have direction and purpose. 

I was reading in Acts this morning.  Paul the Apostle said, "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me- the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace."  Acts 20:24

Paul knew what he was supposed to do.  Preach the Gospel.

Missions was my major in college. I wanted to live over seas and work with children...But here I am, nine years after college, teaching Spanish in the States.  Did I miss something?

So many questions.  Not many answers.

One time my pastor was talking about focus.  He said if we focus on and pursue people, places and things, we could be chasing forever.  Directionless.  But if we make Jesus our focus and goal, He will bring the right people, places and things into our lives at the right time.  Sounds like a verse in Hebrews:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

Lord Jesus, let me fix my eyes on you!  You are my purpose!

snow day chronicles

3-4 inches fell in just two hours!

 We went sledding!

We asked some poor guy to take our picture outside of Starbucks.

Day 3, and the roads are finally clear.  Tomorrow, back to school.

I am so happy to see the sun!

Celebrating 2010

I am so thankful for God's kindness and favor in 2010. Here are some things that I am thankful for in no particular order...



Weddings and time with friends you have known forever!

Sharing the Gospel in Peruvian schools.

Running the Race, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus,
the author and perfecter of our faith.

Books that bring life and health

Students that make me laugh, daily!

Celebrating 30 years of life with friends in NYC.

Seeing God's work in the hearts of
Our students at SLCA who raised over 15,000$ to
send to Double Harvest ministries in Haiti to bring relief after the earthquake.

My sweet niece and nephew!

Charlotte: my home!

Mia the dog: She is a great running buddy.

Linares

Saturday I had the joy of being with my friend Julie as she fulfilled an item on her list of 101 things to do in the next 1001 days. We ate at an authentic Mexican Restaurant on Central Ave! I barely knew the this part of Charlotte existed. All of the signs were in Spanish. The ones that weren't were in Thai or Korean or Vietnamese. It was a fun cultural outing! Oh....and the food was DELICIOUS!

I knew it!

Just read this in the doctor's office. I am glad that I have one more excuse for my daily catnaps!!

Benefits of a 20 minute nap:
- helps alertness
- increases motor learning skills like typing, playing piano
- better than caffeine
- reduces stress
- decreases risk of heart disease

Benefits of a 30-60 minute nap
- boosts memory
- enhances creativity
- good for decision making skills
- helps you remember things you have recently studied (ie: vocabulary, directions)





-- Post From My iPhone

"How to Care for your Introvert"

Dearest introverted friend,

Do you feel overwhelmed and misunderstood by your extroverted friends? Consider forwarding them this online article written by by Jonathan Rauch.

INTROVERTS OF THE EARTH, UNITE!

I didn't mean to....

I went to Michael and Elizabeth's wedding a few weeks ago. Elizabeth was about to throw the bouquet. I made up my mind that I would not catch it, especially not after I accidentally caught at my sister's wedding. Then, before I even knew what was happening, I was flying through the air and the bouquet was in my hand. I had immediate catcher's remorse. This WILL NOT happen again!

Congrats Michael and Elizabeth!

ATM: Arm Twisting Machine

Dear Wachovia ATM creators,

We would like to make you aware that not all of your clients drive SUVs. The height of your ATMs have required us to use awkward card retrieval techniques which result in back pain, neck injury, fingernail breakage, and bad emotions. If this issue is not resolved at once, we may have to file a lawsuit for vehicle discrimination.

Thank you for your time,
Compact Car Drivers of America

Once upon a time there was a guy named Josh...

Facebook status to start the story :"Joshua David Stockment will never again do trish jackson a favor. At least the back of the police car was air conditioned."

And this is his story in his own voice:

Ok -So Trish asked me to feed her dog/let it out this evening because she had to stay late at the school. When I showed up her roommate's car was in the driveway. So I thought: Maybe her roommate is home and I don't have to do anything. So I knocked on the door but there was no answer. I called Trish to see what to do but she didn't pick up. After doorbell/knocking again and no answer I walked around to the side and unlocked the door. But when I opened it there was no audible alarm noise so I thought: Sounds like her roommate IS home. Obviously I didn't want to be unlocking the house and walking in on her, so I quickly locked the door. I called Trish and didn't get an answer, called C-Robb to see if she knew anything about the situation. As I was hanging up the police showed up. The alarm got set off, but it didn't make any warning noise when I opened the door and it didn't make any noise when the actual alarm went off.

When the police showed up I was walking in the side yard looking for a phone signal because Sprint sucks and I have to chase half a bar around. He frisked and cuffed me and put me in the back of his car. After walking around the house and deciding that things appeared to be normal he came back and questioned me. I told him what happened and that I had no indication that the alarm went off [and that I had a key and the alarm code]. He said that I was too articulate and thorough in explaining the situation. So he asked me to describe the inside of the house, took the handcuffs off me and had me open the house and prove that I was supposed to be there. Once convinced that everything was alright he left.

I took the dog for a short walk and fed it. 30 minutes after I got home and about an hour after the ordeal with the police Trish called and said that the Alarm company just called and said the alarm was going off at that moment. So I raced back to the house to make sure that I set it properly when I left; I had and everything was fine. And that was my excitement for the day.

Plumbing 101

My toilet was leaking. A friend suggested that maybe it would be possible to fix it on my own. So I went to Lowe's and got the part....only $2.87. Only, we couldn't get the old part off the put on the new one (the screw was corroded....see below for our creative attempt at uncorroding). So now I may have to pay a plumber to fix it. Sad!

Toilet fixing tools: screw driver (check!),
wrench (check!), flashlight (check!)....cotton balls?
Coca-Cola? Paint scraper?

Plumber Josh, sporting his www.ilikeandy.com shirt.
I don't know that Mr. Osenga would appreciate this type of publicity!
Or would that be "plumbicity"?

Moral of the story, if you can't fix a toilet, at least come up with creative ways to TRY to fix it so you can make a mess, take pictures, and have a funny story later!

PS: you may perhaps want to bring a nose plug!

Snow Peas

Last Tuesday I planted
some little seeds in some peat pots.

Today the first snow peas peaked through!

1 Corinthians 3:5-7

"What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. ⁶I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. ⁷So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow."

Housewarming

My mom gave me the best housewarming gift!
A shovel and a gift card to Lowe's to pick out a tree.

This is me trying to get the tree home. :)

A dad who was walking by told his son:
"look there is a tree growing out of her car!"
( Yoshino Cherry)

Mia in the shade of the new tree :)

First Softball Game

The two coolest coaches ever! Oh wait, that is Meg and I, and yes, we are cool! Especially with our new official coaches' shirts!

Who could not love coaching these beautiful, sweet, middle school girls? Even after a loss, they are still smiley and excited! Megs and I decided that our score (29-11) was really a sign from God. Jeremiah 29:11...For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Perhaps this applies to softball!!?!?!?

Moved in

I can't believe it has already been two weeks since I moved! There are still boxes to be unpacked and painting has not yet happened, but it is already beginning to feel like home.

Mia and Riley are getting along well. I was trying to get Mia to catch a frisbee....it worked...... until Riley charged Mia to steal the frisbee.

Hmmm...perhaps Riley does not realize that he is- a) a cat, b) a lot smaller than Mia, c) not the kind of animal that catches frisbees.

This is Mia's watchdog face to keep away all the neighborhood thugs.

The tail wag is an indicator that she is getting ready to attack. BEWARE!

Riley is helping pick out paint colors. He decided on "amaretto" (a burnt orange) for the kitchen and "sweet annie" (an olive green) for the master bedroom. Good choices! I couldn't have done it without him.