When I was 8, I wanted to be 10. When I was 11, I wanted to be 13. When I was 14, I wanted to be 16 and when I was 19, I wanted to be 21. Fondly enough, I never remember once in my 20s, wishing that I was 30.
But... here I am, not only 30 years old - but married and pregnant! Ha, if my 20 year-old self could see me now!
To be honest, I think there is something very sexy and sophisticated about young mothers in their 30s. They seem to have things together, they may not know exactly what tomorrow brings, but they know who they are.
I know who I am - even though I've got a new name and a baby growing inside me. I know that I have been blessed beyond measure with an amazing husband and supportive friends and family. I know that God has always looked out for me and has made sure that even when things are tough, I know He's got my back.
And, I know for the first time that I want to be my age. I don't wish I could turn back the clocks and repeat those years - they were hard enough - I'll gladly leave them behind. I guess the best thing about turning 30, is actually wanting to be 30.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
To teach or not to teach
Having promptly missed writing in June (for good reason, I might add), July somehow almost slipped under the radar. It has been an exciting couple of months here in Switzerland. After Tim and I got back from our honeymoon, I went into full job search mode.
It might surprise you to know that recently even Switzerland has been hit by the global downturn, making jobs for non-fluent German speakers, such as myself, nearly impossible to get. So, I've resorted to a back-up plan, which at the moment seems to be the plan - I've enrolled in a CELTA course in Oxford to learn to teach English as a foreign language.
A month from tomorrow, I'm off to Oxford to start my new career path, unless of course, some surprise wonder job pops up between now and then. I'm excited about the course, not just because I will be able to spend some time surrounded by English speakers, not just because I get to explore the beautiful city of Oxford, but because I will get a chance to look into something that I've always considered doing, teaching.
When I was a kid, my career ambition was to be an art teacher, that changed eventually to being a missionary and then somewhere along the line it turned into Olympian, then wife and mother, then Politician. Oddly enough, the older I get, the idea of becoming a Politician is fading slowly away. My husband thinks I'm too nice, I'm fairly certain that isn't true - personally, I think my missing political ingredient is spine, i.e. how bad I am at stating my case in a heated argument (basically I cry).
Teacher, in one form or another, was on the list and now it is back on... we'll see if "Olympian" ever comes of age. According to the 10,000 hour rule, I still haven't shot enough arrows to warrant quitting. Being a wife and someday a mother are very exciting things, having a happy marriage and home are certainly lifetime goals of mine which, quite frankly, are more important than any other task God has given me to date.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Wedding Countdown
It seems that just yesterday my wedding was over 190 days away. Now it is right around the corner, in only 34 days I will officially be Mrs. Foster. I have no doubt that I have overdone the facebook messages letting people know how excited I am about marrying Tim, but I feel so lucky to have the love of my life for the rest of my life!
Wedding-wise, everything seems to be falling into place. Tim and I finalized the dinner menu yesterday and decided on a wedding cake. We now have the photographer and the organist booked. There is even a transport surprise for all our guests!
I won't tell you which dress I am wearing from Elsa Gary, but I'm taking a train to Paris to pick it up in just four short weeks with one of my bridesmaids, Simone Gignoux.
For a long time Tim and I were debating whether or not to have flower girls (I kid you not when I say that the aisle is very long - the church is meant to hold 900 people!), but decided in the end that we had to have them in the wedding! The dresses are adorable, I've never seen anything like them in my life.
As for archery, I'm still building up my strength, but my recovery is complete in my opinion. I don't feel any pain when I shoot anymore. In March, I shot at the Swiss Indoor Championships and qualified 2nd. Unfortunately, I had a disqualified arrow which prevented me from qualifying first. Despite not being able to shoot in the Olympic Round because I'm not part of a Swiss club yet, I'm happy that I was able to compete again and shoot well.
My next tournament is in three weeks in Switzerland, I was going to try and shoot in Bulgaria but I still have a lot of work to do to be internationally competitive. Now that I've recovered, my focus isn't about just getting back to where I was, but pushing myself to a new level.
Anyhow, thanks for reading my post, the next time I write, I will most likely be a married woman!
Wedding-wise, everything seems to be falling into place. Tim and I finalized the dinner menu yesterday and decided on a wedding cake. We now have the photographer and the organist booked. There is even a transport surprise for all our guests!
I won't tell you which dress I am wearing from Elsa Gary, but I'm taking a train to Paris to pick it up in just four short weeks with one of my bridesmaids, Simone Gignoux.
For a long time Tim and I were debating whether or not to have flower girls (I kid you not when I say that the aisle is very long - the church is meant to hold 900 people!), but decided in the end that we had to have them in the wedding! The dresses are adorable, I've never seen anything like them in my life.
As for archery, I'm still building up my strength, but my recovery is complete in my opinion. I don't feel any pain when I shoot anymore. In March, I shot at the Swiss Indoor Championships and qualified 2nd. Unfortunately, I had a disqualified arrow which prevented me from qualifying first. Despite not being able to shoot in the Olympic Round because I'm not part of a Swiss club yet, I'm happy that I was able to compete again and shoot well.
My next tournament is in three weeks in Switzerland, I was going to try and shoot in Bulgaria but I still have a lot of work to do to be internationally competitive. Now that I've recovered, my focus isn't about just getting back to where I was, but pushing myself to a new level.
Anyhow, thanks for reading my post, the next time I write, I will most likely be a married woman!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Enjoying life in the midst of the worst economy of our generation
At 5:00am on Thursday, February 19th, the blast of a canon startled me awake. A second canon boom lured me away from my warm bed to my kitchen window only to see what looked like a Texas long horn conducting a marching band on the cobbled street below.
This would be one of almost 100 "Fasnacht" bands that would continue to play on the streets of the Old Town in Luzern for the next week - ceasing only Friday night and Sunday night. Although, I was exhausted at the end of the week - it is really hard to sleep soundly when drums are banging away below your window all night long - the energy I got from the new experience was incredible.
So often in life, we live day in and day out not realizing what is going on in other parts of the world. The experience of Fasnacht reminded me that this world is just as full of wonderful experiences as it is of terrible ones.
Right now, millions of people are experiencing exponential personal debt, they are losing their homes and jobs. The stress is causing the break up of families and a strain on personal health.
When I struggled financially four years ago, I didn't want to tell anyone and I didn't want any help. Then one Sunday in church, I heard about Crown's Biblical Financial study and I decided that it wouldn't hurt to try. The 10-week Bible intensive study opened my eyes to a whole new way of looking at money - not as my money, but as God's money.
If you, like me four years ago, are struggling to appreciate life right now because of the immense financial burdens of this collapsed economy, find out if a church near you is putting on a Crown study and sign up. It is just one way of getting back to enjoying life in the worst economy of our generation.
This would be one of almost 100 "Fasnacht" bands that would continue to play on the streets of the Old Town in Luzern for the next week - ceasing only Friday night and Sunday night. Although, I was exhausted at the end of the week - it is really hard to sleep soundly when drums are banging away below your window all night long - the energy I got from the new experience was incredible.
So often in life, we live day in and day out not realizing what is going on in other parts of the world. The experience of Fasnacht reminded me that this world is just as full of wonderful experiences as it is of terrible ones.
Right now, millions of people are experiencing exponential personal debt, they are losing their homes and jobs. The stress is causing the break up of families and a strain on personal health.
When I struggled financially four years ago, I didn't want to tell anyone and I didn't want any help. Then one Sunday in church, I heard about Crown's Biblical Financial study and I decided that it wouldn't hurt to try. The 10-week Bible intensive study opened my eyes to a whole new way of looking at money - not as my money, but as God's money.
If you, like me four years ago, are struggling to appreciate life right now because of the immense financial burdens of this collapsed economy, find out if a church near you is putting on a Crown study and sign up. It is just one way of getting back to enjoying life in the worst economy of our generation.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Tribute to Bob Towne
Last Thursday night, with a heavy heart and tears welling in my eyes, I made a phone call to a dear friend’s mom. “Just tell him that I love him and tell him how much I appreciate everything he has done for me.” I told her how much he had believed in me when others hadn’t and how he took time off of work to coach me in the build up to the 2008 Olympic Trials and then at the trials themselves.
The very next evening Bob Towne died. Bob, also fondly known to the Olympic Training Center athletes as “the babysitter,” had a rare form of cancer that killed his body and took his life in just five short months. I first met Bob when Coach Lee asked him to “babysit” the archers at the OTC while Coach Lee was out of town.
Bob had a very relaxed style of coaching and his love of the sport and the athletes made his babysitting stints very enjoyable for us. Eventually Bob started coming down to the range on a regular basis; he started building us custom finger tabs and was constantly trying to learn more about the BEST technique.
When he wasn’t at the Training Center, he was transferring all of his newly found knowledge to a group of young athletes whom he was mentoring. One of his pupils Anna, a very ambitious and happy eight year old, won every tournament she entered last year.
In 2007, when I was asked to shoot three personal bests in order to stay at the training center, it was Bob who stood by me and told me that I could do it when I was on the brink of throwing in the towel. If he ever doubted me, he never said so and when I did hit the numbers, he was the person I was the most excited to tell.
Eventually, I was asked to leave the training center despite hitting my personal bests. When others had given up on me, Bob agreed to help. We spent three days a week together and his unconditional encouragement despite all the obstacles I was facing was refreshing.
At the end of my phone call with Bob’s mom, she said with a crack in her voice, “When you win that medal, I hope you do it for Bob.” “Without question” I answered. Additional information about Bob on US Archery's site.
The very next evening Bob Towne died. Bob, also fondly known to the Olympic Training Center athletes as “the babysitter,” had a rare form of cancer that killed his body and took his life in just five short months. I first met Bob when Coach Lee asked him to “babysit” the archers at the OTC while Coach Lee was out of town.
Bob had a very relaxed style of coaching and his love of the sport and the athletes made his babysitting stints very enjoyable for us. Eventually Bob started coming down to the range on a regular basis; he started building us custom finger tabs and was constantly trying to learn more about the BEST technique.
When he wasn’t at the Training Center, he was transferring all of his newly found knowledge to a group of young athletes whom he was mentoring. One of his pupils Anna, a very ambitious and happy eight year old, won every tournament she entered last year.
In 2007, when I was asked to shoot three personal bests in order to stay at the training center, it was Bob who stood by me and told me that I could do it when I was on the brink of throwing in the towel. If he ever doubted me, he never said so and when I did hit the numbers, he was the person I was the most excited to tell.
Eventually, I was asked to leave the training center despite hitting my personal bests. When others had given up on me, Bob agreed to help. We spent three days a week together and his unconditional encouragement despite all the obstacles I was facing was refreshing.
At the end of my phone call with Bob’s mom, she said with a crack in her voice, “When you win that medal, I hope you do it for Bob.” “Without question” I answered. Additional information about Bob on US Archery's site.
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