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January 31st, 2011

The Abominable Snowman

Written by Israel Filed under: Christmas, Family, Support

So our community group, back in the states, sent us a package for Christmas. We didn’t end up getting it until after the new year, but it was well worth the wait. It was full of white-elephant (dirty Santa) gifts!

What Was Inside?

Let’s see…among the gifts was my favorite, the abominable snowman. You put it in water and then it grows over a three day period into three-times it’s normal size. I’ve happened to discover that I like hiding it around the house. So every few days it’s placed in different locations. Loads of fun for all involved.

Tags: church, Community Group, friends, Giving, Photos, Prayer, Support

December 25th, 2010

A Long Awaited Post and Merry Christmas!

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Written by Israel Filed under: BFA, Christmas, Culture, Life, Prayer, Travel, Work & School

A Long Awaited Post and Merry Christmas!

Well right now we are staying warm inside on a very snowy white Christmas! Dani is trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube (starting from the solved position) and I built a two-seater car. We are really glad to have some time to ourselves and to have a short break.

My dad and Raina just left from being here for about 10 days. We went to France, Switzerland, and of course Germany. They wanted to see all of Europe, but that wasn’t going to happen. We both miss having family here for the holiday seasons. Christmas is amazing here, but it isn’t the the same without family.

Dani solving the Rubix Cube, from the end.

Israel making a two-seater car.

The Past Months

So I’m going to try and recap our last two or so months here in Kandern, Germany. We’ve had some really great experiences and some not so good ones, from working in the dorms during Thanksgiving, to having the car break down on our way back to Germany.

Herbstmesse

This is the fall festival/fair that happens at various places around the area. Pretty much everything is closed except food and rides. The school takes a day trip to Basel for all the students to be able to take part in the festivities. It was pretty crazy seeing all the rides. It was like a little carnival. But the big hit at Herbstmesse every year are the bumper cars. I guess those are always popular no matter where you are. You can see the pictures here → Herbstmesse Gallery.

Thanksgiving in Germany

So, of course, there is no Thanksgiving celebration in Germany. (I wonder why?) But the school and the individual dorms celebrate the event during the month of November. At the dorm we substitute at, Blauen, we helped prepare the food and get ready for the meal. It was a great evening with the girls at the dorm, and with the other couples who help, at the dorm, as well. You can see the pictures here → Blauen Thanskgiving Gallery.

Storch Dorm

So Dani and I also go visit a few of the other dorms. One of those is Storchenblick, or Storch for short. I had to get our car worked on after the first freeze. The driver’s side door decided to not unlock anymore, and we also hadn’t put our snow tires on the car. So, one of the girls at Storch, who speaks German, helped me translate at the local auto-shop, Auto Brehm. We got our car back a few days ago, with new locks/keys and tires. Yeah! I also took a mid-semester group picture for them. You can see the pictures here → Storch Group Gallery.

Christmas Banquet

The school has a few banquets during the fall semester, and one of the biggest is the Christmas Banquet. This years theme was a Masquerade Ball, and the Student Council decide to just do desserts instead of a full meal. It was alot of fun, and there were some great skits that happened. The school grants wishes every year that the students submit, and one of those was for all the Korean guys to go up and sing on stage. Needless to say it was hilarious, and not all the guys knew what they were getting into. You can see the pictures here → Christmas Banquet Gallery.

Last But Not Least, The Visit

So my dad and my youngest sister, Raina, came to visit us for about 10 days. They wanted to see everything in Europe. We are not that adventurous, or capable. So we ended up visiting just a few places. We went to a castle, Haut-Kœnigsbourg, and a cute little village called Riquewihr in France. They walked around Lörrach (without us). And had a few days to walk around in Kandern Germany. We then went to Adelboden, Switzerland and skied the Alps. And then on the next to last day took a train and visited a few towns on the way to the Christmas Market in Freiburg, Germany.

So, Coming Back From Switzerland

We were driving along, minding our own business, when all of a sudden the engine light comes on, and the car starts overheating! Seconds wizzed by, and moments later…Okay, ignore the melodrama. We did end up getting stranded in Heimburg-Bern, Switzerland for about 5 hours more than we had planned. The radiator had overheated. It was too late in the evening to find help, and we had no cell-phones. So after looking for possible solutions Dani and Raina found a wireless signal without a password, which is illegal in Germany. (I’m not sure about Switzerland.) And we used the wireless internet, the laptops we had, and cell phones to find help.

We were eventually able to Facebook, make Google calls and email our way into finding someone to pick us up and call for help for the car. We found our way to a McDonalds, had some food, and our ride picked us up and took us back home. It was a crazy unexpected twist that taught me that I will have to look into getting a cell phone plan here if I’m’ going to be doing some more driving. We all went home exhausted and overwhelmed since this was two days before they went back home.

‘Tis the Season

So overall we’ve had a good first semester. It’s been much more difficult then we expected. And there have been plenty of unexpected challenges along the way. We’ve learned alot about the trials of marriage, living in another culture/language, and developing a new life in a new world. We love it here. But are learning that it’s not always easy: like getting stuck in Switzerland.

We hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Drive safe, and always wear your seat belts. We love you all, and are very thankful for the gifts and prayers that have been sent our way.

- Israel and Dani

Tags: Castle, Christmas, Family, France, Germany, Herbstmesse, Jernigan, Kandern, Life, Missionaries, Missionary Kids, Photos, Seasons, Storch, Switzerland, Thanksgiving, work

November 26th, 2010

First Snow

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Written by Israel Filed under: BFA, Life, Work & School

Today, on the 26th of November, 2010, the first snow has fallen! We woke up this morning and were blessed with an amazing picture of white all around. I am loving it! I decided to take some photos of our walk to school with all the snow. I hope you enjoy and are able to see a little more into our daily routine. Short post ended. Love you all!

Tags: BFA, First Snow, Germany, Kandern, Life, Photos, Snow, students

November 21st, 2010

Here’s a Bit About What I’ve Been Doing

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Written by Israel Filed under: BFA, Life, Sports, Work & School

Job Title: Communications Supervisor

Definition: One who works on the website.
My Interpretation: Communicating about BFA to the world outside of BFA.

Expounding Upon My Role

I honestly have been working primarily on the website. But not in the way most would perceive. Within the first month of the school year I came up with a 35+ page brief about how the school could improve their web presence. I came up with this goal.

To create a dynamic website that enables the specific audiences that we are trying to reach to find and use content that is focused for them personally and for their ease-of-use. BFA’s website is not just text on a sheet. The website needs to become a reliable resource and a secure environment for parents, staff—new and returning—and students to share in the experience that is BFA. Our vision for BFA needs to be clear and communicate that we are a school that prides itself on excellence and moral standards; not just as an international school, but also in our brand—our face—to the outside world.

The website has been my primary focus. After writing that brief I was able to spend a half-day brainstorming/way-too-short meeting with the main directors of the school. We spent time pouring over the main points of the brief, and exploring the different areas that each division wanted to focus on. It was great for me to be a part of that meeting. At that point I hadn’t grasped the feel/story/vibe of BFA. So it was very helpful for me to be a part of that meeting. I’ve been busy working on the website and expect to have it finished by Christmas.

So, What Else?

There are two people involved in what I have dubbed the Communications Directive. Myself and my office mate Rémy Kohler. Rémy is French/Swiss, and is a designer who has been working at the school since the semester before Dani and I got to the school. He’s great. We’ve been able to focus our talents. He’s much more of a print designer. So he’s been doing all of the print pieces up to this point. And he says I’m “new media.”

Early on I wanted to make sure that communications as a whole had a vision and a drive behind what is communicated and created. A brochure won’t by itself tell people about the school. Or a website won’t by itself be the first place people find out about the school. I want everything communicated to tell the story of BFA.

Rémy and I have come up with some great ideas and projects that we are working on to make this happen. Some of them have already been created. Like brochures focused on specific audiences, and a new website design. We are developing a BFA overview booklet, multiple types of visitor’s/parent’s packets, email templates and video projects. Some of these you will see this semester.

A Pleasant Surprise, Volleyball!

The first few weeks at the school they announced all of the staff openings and needs for all the departments. Athletics needed an assistant coach for girls’ volleyball. I hadn’t planned on having anything to do with sports. But I expressed some interest, and was able to fit it into my schedule. The volleyball season just finished with the Varsity girls winning the championship. Coaching was so much fun, and building relationships with the girls was great.

I’m not a teacher, so being able to be more involved on an almost daily basis was a good escape from work, and a great way for me to build relationships that I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. I hope that next year I will be able to do it again, and that I will be able to be more involved.

Photos of What I’ve Been Doing

I’ll probably try uploading some more pics of a few other things later. But for now this is just web related. If you want to see what I’ve been working on you’ll just have to wait until late November or early December when the site will hopefully be launched.

: The home page{|}The starting page for the new website. At least in it's current state. :)

: Example of a sub menu{|}This is the Welcome page with a message from the current director. And is showing the main navigation roll-over sub-menus.

: Contact Page{|}The contact page for the new website.

: New Image Gallery{|}This is made with HTML, Javascript and XML. Loads much faster, creates dynamic thumbnails, and is easy to setup. http://bfacademy.com/galleries/dorm_liel/2010-11/10/

: New Image Gallery - Large View{|}This is the enlarged view of an image, for the new version of the gallery.

Tags: BFA, Design, Germany, Israel, Kandern, Life, Media, New Media, Photos, Volleyball, Website, work

August 2nd, 2010

The Morning Walk

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Written by Dani Filed under: Culture, Life, Travel

Hello there folks. Well, according to my little desktop widget, we’ve been in Germany for 17 days. I can’t believe that. It doesn’t seem possible.

Thus far, our time in Kandern has been wonderful. We arrived two weeks before anything started, so we’ve had plenty of time to get over jetlag and settle in. We are incredibly blessed to be living in the home of a woman who’s in The States for a year. This means that from the moment we stepped into our little apartment, we had internet, phone, furniture and food. Many staff members arrive to completely empty apartments. I’m so, so, so glad that wasn’t our experience.

This is our building. The top two windows are ours. Our windows open all the way and there are no screens; it’s fabulous. Also, that’s our car in the driveway. We have purchased and registered the car, but have yet to drive it. All in good time, my friends.

So far, we’ve learned our way around Kandern, learned how to shop, officially registered in the town, registered for a trash can (which we have yet to receive), and figured out the basics of life.

Our new friend Anne, who we met at Orientation, came a few days earlier than she needed to and stayed with us. It was fabulous having her here. We had many a long talk on many a long walk. I think we went for a three hour walk each of the three days she was here. On our first walk, we were caught in a ridiculous thunderstorm. It was a complete downpour for about half an hour. We had no umbrellas or raincoats. It was marvelous, if a bit chilly.

Today we started the first of our three weeks of Orientation—Survival German. Every morning from 9:00 – 12:00, we meet at Black Forest Academy in order to learn a few German language basics, you know, so we can buy food at the grocery store and such.

All of these photos were taken on the walk to school this morning. It’s wonderful to finally begin the “real” BFA stuff. Next week, all of the new staff will learn about the school. The final week of Orientation is for all of the staff.

Israel has been able to do some preliminary work for his job. He’s had several meetings about the media needs of the school and has a better idea of what his job will entail. He even made a trip to Ikea to purchase some new office furniture for the office, which he’ll share with the school’s graphic designer. Israel, Anne and I spent Saturday putting together all of his new office furniture. He’s pretty excited.

Here’s a funny story. We had a few over-ripe bananas. So I thought I’d make banana bread. Fortunately, the home we’re living in is stocked with all of the baking supplies I needed. All went quite well, I thought. I’d even said, “I think my first German baking experience was a success.” And then Israel tried the bread. “Dani,” he said. “What did you put on top of this?”

“Brown sugar, and cinnamon and sugar.” What else would you put on banana bread?

“Are you sure it wasn’t brown sugar, and cinnamon and salt?”

“………….”

Yep. It was salt. All over the banana bread. So here’s a tip, if you ever move to a foreign country, or just into someone else’s home, always taste any unlabeled containers that you assume are sugar.

We are absolutely thrilled to finally be here. Over the past six months, it’s become more and more clear why this is God’s perfect timing for our arrival at BFA. More on that later. Here are a few photos of the school where we’ll spend at least the next two years (hopefully more) loving missionary kids. Yay!!

Tags: apartment, BFA, Black Forest, Black Forest Academy, Car, Germany, Kandern, Life, Nature, Orientation, Photos, Travel, Walks

October 6th, 2009

Can You Feel the Love?

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Written by Dani Filed under: Family, Life, Travel

After returning from Telephone, Israel had a short three days work-week before we headed to the Jernigan home in Muskogee. We spent three days with the family in Muskogee. Hannah and Ash arrived from Australia on September 24th. Besides the few hours we saw them before heading to Telephone, we hadn’t seen them at all. And since we’d never met Ash, it was very important that we get to know him. Israel is the older brother, after all.

Friday morning, Hannah and Ash got up bright and early so I could do their engagement photos. It was very chilly and dewy around the Jernigan property, but they were brave and agreed to lay on wet hay bales and grass. I’m so glad they did, because their photos are awesome! So far, my favorite shoots have been in fields early in the morning. Actually, they’ve all been with family members too. I love the mood of Hannah and Ash’s photos. The Jernigans have five to seven horses (I don’t remember the exact number), and at one point, they all decided to get in on the photos. I was quite thrilled. Horses! In photos! Yes! But Hannah thought it would make her look really Oklahoma country. She was totally wrong. I don’t think it’s possible for Hannah to look like an Oklahoma country girl. And there’s no way anyone would think that of Ash.

Friday night we went to the high school football game to see Israel’s twin brothers, Asa and Ezra, play in the band. I paid absolutely no attention to the game. I thought we were winning for quite a while, but we weren’t. We lost. By a lot. But, during the massacre, we played with our brand new video camera and ate funnel cake. I love food. Can you tell?

Saturday we did some family photos. There are now 14 people in the Jernigan family. 14. That’s a lot of people to have look good at the same time. Surprisingly, there were actually some really good photos of the whole fam. Once we split up into smaller groups however….

That afternoon we headed to Tulsa. The girls went to Hannah’s lingerie party. The boys went to the state fair where they watched pig racing and ate chocolate covered bacon. We all met up at P.F. Changs for dinner that night with some family friends. Jernigan, party of 18? Our poor waiter.

Sunday was filled with church and family. We always go to Grandma Jernigan’s house for lunch on Sundays. We stayed for the evening service to see Hannah and Ash lead worship. The whole service was awesome. I’m so glad we stayed.

It was really hard to leave. We won’t see Hannah and Ash again until their wedding in April. We love Ash. He’s absolutely perfect for Hannah. He’s very funny, very intentional and very loving. Plus, he’s Australian, which ups his cool level by like 47%. Israel even started to pick up his accent, Oh Israel. Seeing Hannah was really great for me. She’s so encouraging and has such a sense of purpose. I was reminded of how I want to live my life—with purpose—and that I want to speak words that are uplifting and bring hope to those who hear them.

You’ve got to check out these photos. Seriously.

: Horses{|}

: Love This One{|}

: Hannah{|}

: Sigh{|}

: Judah and Raina at the Game{|}

: The Muskogee Roughers Band{|}

: The Jernigan Family{|}

: The Jernigans{|}

: A Happy Family{|}

: The Family{|}

: The Girls with Momma J{|}

: The Girls with Poppa J{|}

: My Favorite Photo{|}This was not planned.

: The Boys with Poppa J{|}

: Shaun and Glory{|}

: Momma and Poppa J - Israel's Parents{|}

: The 'Rents{|}

Tags: Ash, church, engagement, Family, food, Football, Hannah, Jernigan, Life, Muskogee, Photos, Travel, Weekend

October 5th, 2009

A Visit to Texas

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Written by Dani Filed under: Family, Life, Travel

Just so you know, the photo header is not Texas. It’s Arkansas. I took it on the way back from Texas. I felt obliged to tell you. You know, just in case you decided to move to Texas just from looking at that photo and then were really surprised when it wasn’t hilly and green.

Last week, Israel took a couple days off so we could head to Texas to see my family. It was a crazy-busy weekend, with not as much family time as I wanted, but we got to see a lot of people, which was the point.

Israel’s sister Hannah has been in Australia for two years studying at the Hillsong International Leadership College. While there, she met her soon-to-be-husband Ashley, who we call Ash. They came in on Thursday evening, so we headed to Muskogee to see them. It was so good to see them. They were exhausted, of course, but when we arrived everyone was playing Apples to Apples. It was the first time the whole family, all 14 of us, had been together in almost two years. Friday morning, we went to IHOP for Ash’s first American breakfast. I’m sure he was very impressed.

After IHOP, we drove to Telephone, Texas, where I spent my high school years.

Yes, there really is a town called Telephone. It’s tiny, which is why you’ve never heard of it.

My parent’s divorced when I was 13. Shortly after their divorce we moved in with Grandpa and Grandma. We were supposed to be there for one year, but ended up staying for six. As my grandpa is a Southern Baptist pastor, we were required to go to church, something I wasn’t always happy about. But that little Baptist church is where I got my spiritual foundation.

After the three hour drive from Muskogee to Telephone, we spent the afternoon with my grandma, aunt and cousins. Then we headed into “town” where we met my mom and Uncle Louie, Aunt Charlotte and cousin, Joel, for dinner. I haven’t seen them in about six years, so it was wonderful to reconnect. When I called Charlotte to finalize our plans, Joel answered and I thought I had called the wrong number because his voice was so DEEP! I mean deeeeeep.

On Saturday, we met up with Charlotte and my cousin Bekah for breakfast at Starbucks, since Bekah was working the night before. She REALLY wants to live in Europe and work with kids. So, of course, we tried to figure out what she could do at BFA. Then we headed to Dallas where we met some college friends, Rachel and Chris, for lunch at Cafe Brazil. I think four different people told us to go to Cafe Brazil. They had about 30 different kinds of coffee. Israel had breakfast tacos. I had loaded fries. Because I wasn’t very hungry. Hmm…..

Then, we met up with Israel’s old roommate, Chris, at the NorthPark Mall, which is where we always meet Chris. We got another coffee and walked through Anthropologie. Can I just tell you how much I love that store? I love it a lot. If only it were about 70% cheaper. Sigh.

Then, we drove to Waxahachie to see Israel’s Great Aunt Helon. I’d never been to her house before, so it was nice to see where she lives. We should really make her tell us her life story sometime, because it sounds like she’s done a lot of interesting things. Once we got back to my mom’s house, we watched half of Stardust but couldn’t finish it because we were so tired. I really like this movie, by the way.

On Sunday we visited Telephone Baptist Church, where I grew up. I hadn’t been in a couple years because my grandpa helped start a cowboy church that we usually go to when we’re in town. It was so nice to see everyone again. People didn’t recognize me because my hair is so short now (actually, it’s rather long at this moment and desperately needs to be cut; short hair doesn’t look good grown out). It was the first day of a revival, so we were invited to attend lunch after the service. Brisket and potato salad and lots of dessert. Mmmm.

We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with my family. We addressed envelopes to mail, fried okra (of course), ate Philly cheese steaks, and watched The Amazing Race while petting Samson the Pitbull. Israel and I both really liked Samson, which is surprising because we’re not dog people. We have Felin for a reason.

: About to Head to IHOP{|}

: Judah{|}

: Stuffed Pancakes = Disgusting{|}

: Dani, Hannah and Judah{|}

: Galen{|}

: Joel, with the Deep Voice{|}

: Louie{|}

: Charlotte and Louie{|}

: Our Prayer Card and a BFA Brochure{|}

: Mmm, Coffee{|}

: Bekah{|}

: Grandpa's Car{|}

: Abstract Car{|}

: The Homestead{|}This is where I grew up in Telephone, Texas. And my grandpa.

: Bois D'Arc Creek Cowboy Church{|}

: Car, Again{|}

: Addressing Envelopes{|}

: Grandma{|}

: Don't Mess with Me{|}

: On the Way Home{|}

Tags: church, Dani, Family, food, friends, Photos, Telephone, Texas, Travel

September 13th, 2009

Weekend Happenings

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Written by Dani Filed under: Life

The past two months have been busy, and this week was no exception. Israel’s brother, Judah, stayed with us for three days, which was wonderful. We’ve been sharing with a lot of Community Groups from our church about our adventure to Germany. And we spent the weekend hanging out with friends. But, before I tell you all the details, I want to give you an update on our support raising.

We’ve been working on support raising for about two weeks. Our goal is to have at least 80% of our support raised by the beginning of October. October is two weeks away. So far, seven people have told us the amount they’ll be giving each month, which totals to $335 a month, 6% of our budget. But as far as I know, no one has actually mailed in their paperwork. If you have committed to supporting us each month, will you get your support paperwork in the mail by Tuesday? This will be a huge help for us, as it will give us a better idea of where we are financially. We’re also hoping that Israel will be able to start working part-time to focus more on support raising, but in order for this to happen, we need to have some support to draw on.

We know that raising $5,000 in two weeks is pretty impossible. Which is why we’re praying for God do the impossible, by raising $5,000 in two weeks. Please pray that with us. If God has a different time-line in mind, that’s fine, but we know he has unlimited resources at his disposal and can easily make impossible things happen. He is God, after all.

Okay, onto our weekend.

On Friday, we took Judah to Hugo’s. This is probably our favorite restaurant in Fayetteville. This great hamburger place is located in a basement off of the Fayetteville Square. It feels like a dark little pub and there’s usually a loooong wait. I had the Blue Moon Burger. With. Blue. Cheese. Yum. I was looking forward to to Hugo’s all week long. No joke. Then we went to Common Grounds and had mochas. This summer, we’ve taken three friends to Hugo’s and then Common Grounds. If you come to visit, you can be the fourth.

On Saturday, we met our friends Brandon and Becca for breakfast at The Little Bread Company, right across the street from Hugo’s. We recently discovered this bakery and, let me tell you, it’s pretty good. Try anything. You’ll like it. After chatting about video for a while—Brandon is a digital media dude—we wandered up to the Farmer’s Market with Lily, the dog. On the way, young Lily decided she needed a bathroom break, but, apparently, she hasn’t quite figured out that she needs to finish pooing before walking again. Things were a little gross for a while. While we were wandering the Farmer’s Market, I saw the biggest dog ever. I think it was four feet tall, just standing there. Four feet! I believe it was an Irish Wolfhound or Scottish Deerhound. No, I didn’t get a photo.

It has been a wonderful Sunday. We went to the early service at our amazing church, The Grove Church. Before we left, I ate breakfast on our porch. I love being outside in the mornings, especially rainy mornings. I haven’t seen many mornings in the past year, since my schedule has been pretty flexible (meaning I get up at 10 and don’t shower until 2). But early mornings are the best time for me to sit with God and be still. I’m going to try to get up earlier and enjoy the AM from now on. We’ll see how that goes.

After church we had breakfast, for lunch, with Evan and Emily from our Community Group. Then we played Canasta, with real cards instead of the Canasta Caliente deck we have at home. It is confusing going from pretty cards that say Wild and Stop, to A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7…. Anyway, Israel and Evan won. Emily and I lost. Stupid discard pile.

Here are a few photos from our weekend adventures.