Oh, to Follow a Taylor

Escuela!

2007-04-22T11:36:00.000+03:30

Right now I am and have been doing my sophomore year of school on a online school called Northstar because we were moving so much this school year I couldn’t stay in a physical school. For being all on the computer and the teachers being distant, it’s a very good school. Great classes, content and communication, etc. However I would simple go nuts doing that for the rest of my high school years because I am a social person and, well, just being at school is a lot more fun.

So, we found out that there is an international school here and went to stop by last Thursday (April 12) since we were in the area. We arrived and my first impression was a good one. It had a big front and steps leading up to the building which was tall and had like marble facing and traditional Iranian tiles with the name of the school in English and Farsi. To the side there were courts and a yard with tables, etc. It was empty since it was the weekend but there was a guard, one student who was dressed out of uniform (probably picking something up) by the gate on her cell and a teacher exiting the campus. We stopped the teacher and asked her if we could get inside to look around, she told us she would show us some of the grounds but to come on Saturday to have a tour (which we intend to eventually do).

I asked her how many students there were, and she said about 500, then I asked how many in each class, to which she asked my grade, but she ended up not knowing how many were in my grade. So I asked the student, she said there were 22 or something. But the real shocker was her accent! It was totally American. Then my mom asked her if she lived in the states. She said “Ya, I’m from Huston.”. I was like *gasp*! I’m sure one of her parents is Iranian, but still, she’s part of the same culture as me!!! Anyways, it turns out, she’s in the same grade and all and so I’m sure I’ll get to know her next year.

So then we looked around and the teacher took us inside and there are posters all over and gorgeous paintings done by students and projects, decorations, etc… the usual stuff in a school. But then, upstairs by the library, there was a student poster that actually made for slow reading because of the artsy font, but it said something along the lines of “God made us…. God made the big universe… all these complex and huge things… something… and God is such a big God…” and then the last two lines I remember clearly, they said “so it should be no surprise to us that in the Bible it says that his love for us is Big.” Wow! This is in an Iranian school! I know there are a lot of foreigners attending, but there’s also a lot of Iranian upper class students which attend and they see this too and the school allows it!

Ahhh!!! I’m just so excited to start going next September so I can make some friends and start a normal teenage life here in Iran.

There is one tough thing though. See, the school teaches in English but with the intent to gradually adjust you into Farsi learning and speaking because their students are mostly kids who were born in the U.S. but their Persian parents decided to move back to Iran. I don’t want to do that program so I must instead enroll in their full IB (all AP classes) program in order to stay on the English curriculum and learn Farsi outside of that school at a much faster pace and not let the difficulty interfere with my learning at school. This is going to be hard. I know I can do it, but it will take a lot of effort and time to have all AP classes next year.

Oh well, I get to become smart =D

Yep, yep. So that was my school experience. Later that day was when the theft of my dad’s brief case happened, but I was still thanking God that night for giving me this wonderful opportunity to go to this school next year because that is such a sooper dooper (oooh, I like that saying: “sooper dooper”. I haven’t said that in a while!) blessing.

Trunk theft at Sharvand

2007-04-12T00:33:00.000+03:30

We were going shopping with our friends right after dad got off work and put all our stuff in the trunk. We came out of the store and opened to the trunk to find it empty. My heart seriously sank. It's a weird feeling, you know? When you're heart actually falls to your gut. Weird thing is, I immediately after had a wonderful gift of peace from God. I was happy we were safe and then started humming my life theme song "Blessed be your name", especially the part that says "you give and take away". I mean, it's all God's anyways. It always has been and we've just been allowed to use it.

The things that were stolen were:
Our friend's satchel which had his residence card in Dubai, office keys and checkbook, and some of his daughter's legal papers or something.
Dad's laptop. With a lot of stuff that hadn't been backed up yet.
Noah's diaper bag with his only jacket and a portable changing mat that rolled up with this mini wipe package and diapers that someone got us.
My dad's dear old (but still looks good) leather jacket
Noah's rain cover for his stroller (not that important... but still.)
10,000 dollars. Yes, I know, you're asking why we had it with us. But some of it was the first payment from that afternoon to Dad's company for their work. Some of it was the company's petty cash. And a portion was my family's that we brought into the country with us. See, because of American law's we can't use any of the banks here! So, we had to bring a lot in with us to live on for a while. So, while our lives are still chaotic and settling down, there was nothing to do with all of it for the time being.
The worst part, though, were the documents in my dad's case. They were really important to the company and signed and reviewed by people high up in different governments. And there were some articles of association which was this plan that allows my dad and Jeff to work here. It's really frustrating because those documents mean nothing to the thieves!!! Why can't they just give those back. It's such a headache (dad’s) to get by without them until they finally get replaced.

But, you know what? God is in control. It's frustrating, but I don't really mind it. It's nice knowing this world is just temporary and that things... well, they're just things!
Oh, and praise God our passports weren't stolen!!! They would have been in that trunk if the foreign ministry hadn't needed them that day to do some processing. Iran is one of the few places in which there is no American embassy for us to get replacements... and then, how do we leave here to go get replacements without a passport? Oh, and we forgot the camera that day, so it wasn't stolen either! yay! And just that morning, for no reason, dad took our birth certificates, safety deposit box info and other important things out of his case even though he usually brings with him. God was merciful!

The police are working extra hard on this case because they were ashamed that this happened in their country to us. They were very helpful. The thief was a professional because of the way he got in, didn't break anything, and didn't tamper with the alarm.

Just because of this incident, it doesn't make Iran a bad place. Things like this happen everywhere. It happened to us 3 times back in Arizona... pshhh! We still love Iran.

Anyways, I'll be off now... have a great day everyone and God bless you too, like He has us,

Taylor

2007-03-06T23:04:00.000+03:30

Having a baby brother has been great. I love him sooooo much!
My friends dropped by for 20 minutes or so the other day to see him.
Here are some pictures from that and from the last week of he and I.

He is such a bundle of joy and I'm always holding him and kissing him! My lips cover his whole chubby cheek when I kiss him!

I'm in mum's labor room

2007-02-25T18:48:00.000+03:30

I was woken at around 4 am, told that it was time to go to the hospital. I asked dad, “is she in labor?”, he said yes and I was already out of bed getting my clothes. It is now 5 am and I’m sitting in the water birthing room while mom is getting the check up from her midwife. Since four, we have made it to the hospital with no traffic, put mom in a wheel chair and took her up to the baby-giving ward place. She’s had painful contractions and drank some water, and was given this tiny Styrofoam bowl thing in case she pukes… of course it would overflow though! Haha! Oh, and did I mention, there was a big ant in the elevator?

Anyways, she supposed to give birth in the water birth room (which is a nice room with couches, rug, rocking chair, bassinet, tv, and a joined room with the tub and bathroom. It’s pleasant in here with mood lighting and Enya playing, but it is soooo hot.) and is having her labor here, but apparently we will move to some room “she has chosen” after the baby is born. Which she of course hasn’t , but I think they were trying to have her choose when we first came in… which wasn’t much of a choice since the nurse said, “all the birth rooms are full, so we’ll have to put you in the VIP room, ok?”. Yay! Haha… She doesn’t get to choose… we’re forced to a room, but it just so happens to be the VIP one… so, no complaining there! By the way, the nurse checked the baby’s heart beat before the midwife arrived… pretty awesome.

Dad just came in from the check-up room and asked if I was ok. Would I be something else? I’m not giving birth. =P He's just looking out for me.

Man, I should have told him I was hot, missed my chance! Haha! Just kidding… it’s the least of our problems.

It’s now 10 am. I just woke up from this little lounge chair. The baby hasn’t come. She was hooked up to the monitor for a while (like at 8.30, before I fell asleep) and they saw that his heart beat wasn’t the strongest, and the contractions were too irregular (5 minutes, 2 minutes, spread out constriction to concentrated constriction, etc.) because… something… I don't remember the reason. But they said she needed to be having juice and nutrients in order to keep the process ok, healthy, and going.

Hmmm... Dad just came in to wake me up (I went to sleep again) and told me that the baby is having distress. I don’t know what that means. He also had a “bowel movement” in the womb (I didn’t know that could happen!) and they’re worried the contaminated amniotic fluid may in turn go into him. So now they’re trying to induce her labor. This was supposed to be all natural, in the water, no drugs. And then if he doesn’t come in 2 hours, then the have to do a caesarian-section. Great.

I can’t help but think “this isn’t how it’s supposed to happen!”. But it is, because God is in control. I’m just praying she’ll have the baby now that she’s had the drugs. And I hope he isn’t hurt, or born with problems.

Signing off!

After he was indeed born:

Boating

2007-02-22T17:53:00.000+03:30

So a few weekends ago we went with our friend, who owns a motor boat, to a very small island about half an hour away from Bahrain called Bird Island, and thought I would share some pictures.

This is Mr. Laskey (to the left), the owner of the boat, as he was driving us back to the mainland. And the woman to the right is his mother who was visiting from New Zealand.

These are a couple sea sponges we found along the shore. The picture on the far left is the sponge in which I rescued my three little, crab-picked, starfish.

This is what the island looks like from the view of one tip out to the other. The island was pretty much shaped like a crescent moon. The island is officially called Bird Island because of all the birds that land there (which all flew off as soon as we "docked"), or because of all the bird poop. However, I like to give it a more pleasant name: Moon Isle, due to the shape.

The picture on the left is the view of my dad and I on the tip from our friends' perspective, and the picture on the right is me standing on a mini island at the tip of the island from my dad's perspective near me.

Some more pictues of us on the Island.

On our way out from Bird Island, the sun was setting - just about the time that all the traditional fishing "dhow" boats would traverse out into the sea in a line. It was really pretty, here are some pictures.

Maybe a baby...?

2007-02-04T14:27:00.000+03:30

...or maybe it's an alien.
But either way, mom is having really close contractions. Dad is sitting with his little sports coach stopwatch and timing them. Haha, it's kind of funny!!!
It may be a false labor thing, but... it's seems pretty real to me. She was picking out music from my computer that she wants me to make CD's of for the delivery room.... songs like from Enya, some WOW worship... etc.
Mmmm... I like some of the old hymns. Awesome words.

now she's reading the "labor" section of "What to expect when you're expecting". teehee!

Anyhow... everyone may be getting emails from me or another blog tomorrow that a baby is here. And no, he wouldn't be premature. Under 37 weeks is premature, and mom is like 37 and half weeks along... so, it's all good.

I'm sooo anxious... I need to go find something to do.

God bless y'all... he sure has blessed us ;-)

God's will?

2007-01-21T23:52:00.000+03:30

So there's this decision about the summer right? The decision is about going back to the states on my own or not. I almost have enough money. But the question is, do I want to miss out on a couple months of my baby brother's first year, and more importantly, what does God want me to do? Go or not?

I'm wondering about the ways God reveals His will to us. Erg... it seems in my decision making He's always made it clear to me what he wants, whether by circumstance or just guiding me with a strong sense of his hand pushing me. But recently, concerning this summer and making it to Iran- I don't know. I think it's good to go back to AZ. I'm trying hard to make sure I'm not letting my flesh of wanting to go back get in the way...
The other thing is about "if I am in AZ this summer, how should I spend my time?" I want to raise awareness of the world outside of the U.S. to people, and that should probably start with the people around me... but how?
Second of all, should I go on mission trips with church, and which one?
Should I be an assistant counselor for Jr. High, am I ready for that? Can God use me to be an encouragement to Jr. High girls?
In my devotions, discussions and what not, there's recently been this theme of "He moves when our lives are in the thick of rain or confusion" and then on another subject of "Having a ready heart so that you can shine, and also to hear God so he can use you to shine in all different unexpected ways."
So the "moving in chaotic times" is happening now, because we have no home or belongings really, we have a visa for Iran on it's way but unsure, and my mom is going to pop her belly soon. But it's not actually Him drastically moving now, it's really our anticipation that he's promised he will move and we just don't know when or what it will be.
And then "having a ready heart to shine" is definately something I'm wondering about, am I not opening my eyes enough to what His plan is, or am I thinking too much and not "being still to know he is God". Does he want me to shine just in my family as my main concern or by doing something else. Where and how does he want me to shine... because I feel useless right now, and I don't want to be that to Him.

What does He want me to do this summer?!

Maybe I'm jsut going stir crazy and I'm not really confused, I just think I am ;] haha...

Yet, in the midst of my confusion, I have amazing peace that He is in control, and a bizarre excitement that He's gonna flash some of His amazingness very soon. I also think he's saying "wait, and you'll see sometime soon what my will is for you for Iran and for this summer..."

Life

2007-01-21T22:23:00.000+03:30

So, it is time to write another blog, and I have no clue what to write about. If I write about life, then I would have to repeat the same couple of lines over and over again.
I sleep, I work on school, I eat, I do things on the computer, I shower, and I sleep.
I sleep, I work on school, I eat, I do things on the computer, I shower, and I sleep.
Oh wait, sorry, didn't I just say that?
That is pretty much my life right now. It is quite boring. I have no crafting things or instruments available to keep me preoccupied since they are all in storage. Lately, however I have started deciding that to keep myself busy, I will try to become smarter and more experienced at certain things. So I have decided that I should know Farsi and Spanish by the time I'm 18 and possibly Arabic too by 20. Haha! I took THREE years of Spanish and used to know a lot, I was learning at a young age when everything supposedly sunk in, so I figure I should be able to speak it now, and since I can't then I should work on recalling and practicing the language.
Living in Iran should make it easy to learn Farsi, so if I don't learn quickly, then I have some serious damage. As far as Arabic is concerned, I just want to know conversationally a lot, not the entire language. Now that I think about it, maybe I should learn French too, I know the basics from my 9th grade French class, and it seems pretty easy...
These are all crazy goals, but they keep me looking forward and feeling like I have things to do; and if I actually partially accomplish these goals, then all the better!
Also I have been learning to create web pages and graphics, so I'm tinkering around with some creations to become more experienced, and that's a lot of fun.
Tomorrow I will go to the bazaar to buy some leather squares to make/sew some cases for my Mp3 shuffler, and my camera.
It's fun to be creative about how to be creative while I'm waiting to move to Iran and get a home and get my things.
That's pretty much all for now, so until later:
Adios
Marsalam
and Khoda Ha fez

New wing in Seef

2007-01-12T09:30:00.000+03:30

Seef mall is doubling its size by opening a new wing. This new wing has very different architecture from the old Seef, it's like a totally different mall. There's room for more than a hundred more stores. There are tons of windows and a lot of light. There's one main area that is open both stories high and has a walk-over bridge (1 picture). I also like the escalators because they have these awesome lights along the side that makes you feel like your descending or ascending into some other galactic realm. My friends however like the creepy glass cylinder of an elevator that talks... (2 pictures)

So, Ola, Mariam (Ola's younger sister), Susan and I all went to the mall on Friday afternoon to take a look at the now-opened wing. It was very fun to explore. Only problem is that there are like only 4 stores open over there, so it was pretty empty! ha ha! We used this to our advantage and decided to run and slide on the marble tile the whole way down the hall!

There's going to be a card store, Tom Tailor, Paul Frank, and other stores open very soon, and then they say that Abercrombie, Pacsun and Aeropostale are moving to Bahrain, specifically Seef mall, soon as well.
But what I was happy about is the Forever 21 that was open (3 pictures)!!! yay!!! An American store! Not a British or European one! An American one! He he, I mean, Zara, Gucci, Mango, Debenhams etc. are fine... but Forever 21 has clothing I love, not to mention it is so cheap compared to the other places. I bought a pearl necklace for like $5.50 there, that's cheaper than Target! OK, well not everything there is that cheap though, but they do have a lot of really cute things that are.

Sephora is also open. For those of you who don't know, it's like all the best make-up brands all in one massive store. I wasn't really super thrilled about that, but my friends definately were.

The most exciting thing about the new section I think, is that the bridge connecting the 2nd levels over the big center area had glowing floor tiles. AND, the huge tiles changed their glow color!!! HA HA! so fun! we took pictures and had a little too much enjoyment.

At the end of the day, Ola's dad was coming to pick us up, and the girls had just stopped in the middle of the mall and started talking, I was tired and there was no bench around, so I knelt on the ground, and Susan joined me while we waited for the car :) They couldn't beleive we were actually sitting on the ground in the middle of the mall.

That night, Susan and I slept over at Ola and Mariam's house. We had lots of fun and stayed up until 4 am. WOW! then the next day we played around online and then went for a really pleasant walk before my daddy came.

It was a good 24 hours...

Out with the girls Dec. 28

2006-12-29T17:29:00.000+03:30

Yesterday at 3:30pm, my parents, the kids (Aisha and Peter) that we are taking care of for a week, and myself left for the movie theatre. We saw the kid's movie "Arthur", although I think it may have been a bit too scary for the five-year-old, Peter.
Afterwards, my dad dropped me of at Seef mall around five-ish. There, I met up with Mariam Essa and Shaymah. We shopped around and they bought a few things for the Eid coming up on Saturday. Then Ola and her younger sister (another Mariam), and their friend showed up to walk around with us.
When we were in Zara, we saw Mariam Khalifa's mother and her little baby sister, and three of her brothers. Mariam K.'s mom invited us to her house after the mall to see these things that this woman would bring to sell-necklaces, purses, jewelry, etc. from all over: thailand, turkey, etc.
So, we left for her house at around 8pm. Once there, I played around with the baby, and then some other women arrived. We all sat and they talked, and Ms. Khalifa's son came down and randomly said he was leaving for Hajj in an hour. After the pleasantries, Mariam Khalifa arrived and then the lady brought her things out to show us teenagers, Ms. Khalifa and the other ladies. People matched things, etc. It was an awesome selection brought to the home! hehe!
After that, they all talked for a very long time, and us girls started getting goofy. Mariam Essa and I talked about where she's going for college and choosing what to study. She's a senior and still doesnt quite know what she's doing. One time it was business, but then she decided there's too many of those people in Bahrain. Then it was fashion design in a college in Atlanta. And now it's a college in Bahrain (because she's nervous about leaving for college) studiying Interior desing maybe.
Did I mention how much I adore that baby?! She smiles her two-tooth grin a lot!
Anyways, at around 11-ish when Mariam Essa's sister was late to pick us up, and we were tired, we went upstairs with Mariam Khalifa to her room. We were going to crash in her bed, but as soon as we jumped on it, we had energy... it was that point where you get a little funny because you're exhausted. So we ended up just looking at pictures and listening to music on their phones and laughing.
Then her sister came and we left. I ended up getting home a little late (12:15) .It was a fun night though. But ya, that was just a peek into a typical night out with my friends!

My 15th birthday

2006-12-16T13:47:00.000+03:30

My birthday was on December 3rd!!! It had a crazy start, but it ended up being a blast.

The original plan was to have my birthday on Al Jazyira beach down south. My friend Alaa has a beach house down there that we were going to use. We would go from 3 - 8 because school was the next day, and we wanted to be there before sunset. We were going to play around (not swim! birr!) on the beach and watch the the sunset, then have a big bonfire, and cook burgers on the grill then s'mores over the fire. Sounds fun right? And cocoa in the beach house along with junk food, hehe.

Well, it seemed to be perfect, but then girls slowly dropped out because they wouldn't be allowed to go to the beach! don't ask me why. My mom was going to be there to supervise, but for some reason they weren't allowed to go to a beach. go figure! Well, out of 18 girls only 3 would come! I really wanted to have a beach birthday, and not the other usual birthdays at home, or at a restaurant. But I also wanted to be with more friends than that. So I started thinking of combinations: lunch with everyone at the mall, and then the girls that can come with us to the beach, etc.

Then on Friday, it rained, and so my decision was made, I called everyone and told them it was way to wet to have the beach party, so it's my house on Saturday evening. 10 out of 18 girls were coming, and 3 maybe were. So I was bummed/not bummed... hehe.

Saturday rolls along, and Reem got there first!!! Imagine!!! REEM, the one who is always late. Then Ysabella and Selma came, and then Ola came. Then Misha and Nayla were asking for directions and were coming, but then for some reason had to go to the hospital (*sad face*) and then Marwa, Maha and Aisha gave up trying to find my house! haha!! (*another sad face*) and the other girls had no rides over. It was like the worst date to have a birthday I think.

So even though I missed Mariam, Alaa, Susan, Ghada, Fatoom and the rest at my party, we really had a LOT of fun! All five of us girls were like retarded etc.

We danced and sang along with all this music Selma brought. Then we went to the terrace and grilled burgers, that was funny, we couldn’t separate the frozen burgers. And we got all smoky, and then brought them back up to devour them.

Then We all got into my PJ's because we were going to watch a movie. I didn’t know I had 5 pairs of pajamas. But instead of watching a movie, we ended up have hot cocoa with tons of whip cream on top... and a bit in our mouths. And we made s'mores in a pan!!!!

Ola got my a purdy green bag, and my grandma got me this awesome sweater and shirt from Arizona jeans, and this cute necklace that exactly matched what I wore for my birthday.
the shirt and jacket

The lays got me this really cute frog wallet and froggy fuzzy socks =D

Oh and did I mention, on Saturday I also went to little Peter’s "pirate birthday party"? it was soooo cute and fun to help out there. Peter and Aisha are really fun to baby-sit and are so cute and really loving. They love to play guess who with me, etc. But, (haha!) at his birthday party, I asked if I could wear his pirate hat (he had left it off the whole party) and he said "No!" I was like... ok then... "oh do you want to wear it then?" and then he said "Yessss, of course I want to wear it" and so I hand it to him and he says "why are you giving this to me, I don’t want it" and so I put it on the bench, then this other little kid comes in and says "Peter, can I wear your hat?" and peter runs to get it and say "of coouuurse, here you go". HAHAHA! I was rolling, I was shocked but it was hilarious, and he has this adorable little Australian, stuffy nose (at the time) accent. It was adorable.

On my real birthday day, I went out to eat at Johnny Carino’s with my parents, and we walked across to the mall and bought 2 big cinnabons, and then went home to watch some movie, and eat a cinnabon.

It was a fun birthday, really, even though so much fell through. On Thursday night, I just told God I don't care that plans can never be solid in this county, and asked him to give me joy and no anxiety about planning: the result was just a totally enjoyable day.

a death wish...

2006-09-22T22:18:00.000+03:30

Rules for crossing the road in Tehran:
Forget the "look right, look left, and look right again". no, its "look left, look right, look forward, backward, then forge ahead until you're between the next lane, think flat in order to not get hit with a side mirror in your front or back then look left, look right, forward, backwards and move across the next lane. Although it is best to wait utnil a mob forms on the side of the road so that you may walk cowarding behind them and skamper across the road hoping the cars will stop.

TLhis is a slightly changed excerpt from onely Planet's guide of Iran (a book given to me by susan!!! and stuck on it I still have the note that she taped to the front... hehe. its such a insightful and helpful book that actually cracks me up, cuz its honest and entertaining. but helped us find some really nice parks, and telecabin rides, and coffee shops near to ancient palaces, internet cafes, etc... wow!! thx suki!!!)

Tehran, being a city of over 14 million people, (Phoenix is about 4 million... so picture that!!!) and is larger in spacial size than London probably, is very crowded on the roads. No joke, 3 lanes become 5 or 6... always... 2 way streets become 1 way if the rush hour wants to. Switching lanes are for a means of dodging other cars and get the fastest route (which may be only 10 feet ahead), not to be in a turn lane or something. The cars push their way through an intersection and therre is always less than 2 feet between each car. no exageration. Yet, with so much chaos and traffic, it's constantly flowing. weird! like a school of fish they cross over paths, but also move together in flowin craziness.

I dont know about you, but when I'im learnin to drive, I find turning, acceleration, and all that quite easy but my spacial perception is terrible. But here, they will be 2 inches away from one car around them every second, an constantly moving, but never bump or crash (not very often anyways). They know, its amazing.

It seems almost uncivilized and crazy at first, but you realize, it works, an no one ever gets hit really. Driving in Iran is an art. And it's a cooperative flowing crisscrossing madness. it's... an experience that leaves you in bizarre intrigue.

what i wear when i travel...

2006-09-22T12:08:00.000+03:30

clothes. definitely.

but other than that, i also wear my "traveling" jewelry.

I look quite dorky actually with 3-5 mismatch necklaces and 4 bracelets on.
Everytime i travel i take a chance. the chance is taking out my prized jewelry that has been given to me by dear people. i'm always worried I'll loose it, but i have to wear them every time i have a big travel time in life. Bahrain to U.S. U.S. to Bahrain. Bahrain to Iran. etc.

i first put on my frog necklace that is one of those "best friends" necklaces from Claire's (hehe) that a few of my close friends in Bahrain have together (all matching, lol, keeps us feeling young!) then i place the another necklace from Mariam on, this one is purple. then i have sterling silver necklace with a blue pendent thingy from Elizabet that i unclasp and put 3 other charms on the chain that are silvery as well from 3 other necklaces (just to lessen the amount of chains around my neck) that are from a few individuals that i love dearly.

then on my wrists i have the silver bracelet from my grandmother. a bracelet that is black with T-a-y-l-o-r on it and frogs from Faten. The bracelet from the girls in U.S. from 2 years ago (Emily distracted me with choosing a wallet while they bought the chain and each one picked a charm to go on it).

then also another necklace and bracelet that i don't recall at the moment cuz they are all set in my special box taken out before any flight (or on my first day of school or scary new moment in each of my new lives that come along)...

pretty much all the jewelry that some1 has given to me (unless, like my Grammy, the have given me a few diff pieces, i jsut pick the most special) is whats on me when i travel... oh! and a ring from Sauwsen... I'll remember it all in the middle of night probably and wake up and be like "oh, how could i have forgotten that!"
And often need a neck rubb after it all...necklaces can be heavy.