Weekly Series

Letters Between Friends: FRIENDSHIP MAKES US CRY

Trish2 Comments

LettersBtwnFriendsDear Tricia,

I was writing you a letter last night, so proud that I would get it to you early, but then I read it, and it was sooo dull.  I make no promises for this one, but topping last night’s would not be hard.

Wineinger life is crazy.  We are full swing wedding.  T-Minus 23 days!  This weekend, a handful of us are going to STL for a bach-ette weekend for Ashley.  I can’t tell you what we are doing because it’s a surprise, but I’m sure you’ll see pictures.  Then, it’s back to the wedding countdown.

File_000 (7)Um, question…what were we like in the youth group?  Did I ever make you angry and not want to talk to me?  Or to Lisa & I? I remember it being difficult because we were from other schools, but we chatted over AIM and made weekend plans.  I’ve been observing our group…figuring out dynamics and analyzing as we talk about bringing this new guy in.  (We haven’t picked yet, but we are close, God-willing.)  I know there is a difference between 15-year-old Lindsay & Tricia and 20-something Lindsay & Tricia AND this current group.

Friendship is such a weird concept to me.  *Sorry, I’m getting really deep this morning.* We kind of talked about this in youth group also.  What makes an amazing friendship?  The kids said:

  • Trust
  • Like the same things
  • Time
  • Know what each other’s thinking or like-mind

Continue reading →

Sunday Summary #16: What’s on the Internet

TrishLeave a comment

Articles

1|  This article brilliantly explains why Beauty and the Beast is NOT an example of Stockholm Syndrome, but in fact portrays a healthy love story based on compassion and realizing you don’t have to be the beast people think you are.

Videos

1|  WOW this song by Ruth B does all sorts of things to my heart feelings.

‘Run, run, lost boy,’ they say to me. ‘Away from all of reality.’
Neverland is home to lost boys like me, and lost boys like me are free.
Neverland is home to lost boys like me, and lost boys like me are free.

2|  WOW, YES PERFECT.  Star Wars/Hamilton mashup!!

A Week in Greece #3: A Greek Play and Exploring on My Own

Trish1 Comment

Although my mind is still consumed by Greek lessons, I had a bit more of a life this week (for better and for worse).

Last week I felt overwhelmed by all the verbs and vocabulary and grammar that I had to juggle every day in my Greek class.  I also felt overwhelmed by making new friends.  So last weekend, I stayed in my room as much as possible and worked my butt off mastering the Greek we had worked on.  I’m talking 8 hours of Greek on Saturday and another 6 hours on Sunday.  The payoff was worth it – when I returned to class on Monday, I felt like I was swimming through the lessons instead of drowning.  Classes continued, my friendships with Nir and Elvira continued, and I started to really like our teacher Rosa, which is unfortunate because next week we have a new teacher.

I already wrote about the excitement of how we have a location for HD.  The continuation of that is that Anthi took me to see the outside of the building on Thursday night, and it’s nicely secluded with a lot of trees, and there are balconies and…you know, outside of a building stuff.  Eventually I will see the inside and have a stronger opinion.  I’ve also been helping Dina write fundraising updates and letters.  She came to my room Thursday morning and said, “We need $200,000 to fully renovate the house.  God will give us the money!”  Later I told Anthi that I’m just going to kind of borrow Dina’s faith body-of-Christ-style, because I definitely don’t have it.  But, well.  Maybe I do.  Because God came through with providing us the house, so why not the money too?

On Thursday night, I went to Anthi’s house after class.  We had dinner, she took me to see the house, and then we went to Ambelokipi (meaning “grape garden” because there were vineyards in the area before there was city) to meet up with Dina, Francisca, and Natasha to see a play!  It was a three-hour production of Crime and Punishment in Greek.  When the music started and a man slowly walked on stage, lighting a lantern and pouring a glass of water, Anthi leaned over and whispered, “Do you understand what has happened so far?”  She filled me in every ten minutes or so, and I could mostly keep up.  I wondered how much of the exaggerated emotion (there’s nothing quite so strange as listening to gibberish spoken normally SUDDENLY JUMPING TO SHOUTED GIBBERISH) was due to the plot and how much was due to the Greek actors.  When it was over I found out that several of the cast were famous Greek TV actors, and Natasha made Anthi take multiple pictures of her standing with one of the men.   Continue reading →

Sunday Summary #15: What’s on the Internet

TrishLeave a comment

Articles

1|  I’ve got six months to figure out how to watch PBS in Greece, because I am NOT missing their special on Hamilton!!

2|  The Mary Sue covers two of my favorite topics – feminism and Star Wars!  But this post isn’t about Rey.  It’s about the men of The Force Awakens, and how they are a shining example of feminist men in the media.

Videos

1|  I just discovered Nadine, a travel vlogger, and this video about airport/airplane travel hacks was really informative!  Some I knew, but a lot of her suggestions were really genius.

 

Workout Week #8

TrishLeave a comment

THIS WEEK’S GOAL:  20 minutes at least 5 times this week.

WorkoutWeek 1.23.16

GOAL MET

Workout Notes

This week was weird.  On the one hand, my Greek lessons and Greek homework took up an enormous amount of my time, making it harder to make room for working out.  On the other hand, I had a lot of stress manifesting itself physically, and I found that a good cardio workout went a long way toward making me feel better.

Exercise…making me feel…better?  Wow.

I’m continuing with my 30 Day challenges and Sworkit app.  In addition, I walked about four miles every weekday – mostly from Syntagma to Pangrati and back (the metro station to my Greek class).  So all in all, it was a very active week!

Food Notes

Another weird thing.  I…didn’t eat much this week?  Maybe due to stress, but usually when I’m stressed I OVEReat.  I don’t know.

My eating schedule most days was this:  eat cereal for breakfast at 9:00, eat a snack (strawberries/little pastry/etc) at 1:00, eat dinner at 7:00 when I got home.  I kept having 300 or 400 calories left over every day, but I never kept myself from eating when I was hungry.

Is this normal?  If you’re walking a lot, do you stop being hungry?  Maybe so, because today I stayed in my room most of the time, and I found myself snacking a lot.  Hmmmm.  Maybe it’s not so mysterious.

NEXT WEEK’S GOAL:  20 minutes at least 5 times this week.

(I have less and less time due to my Greek lessons 1.5 hours away,
so I don’t want to push my luck.)

A Week in Greece #2: First Week in a Daily Greek Class

Trish4 Comments

Υεια σασ!  Τι κανετε;

Δεν ζερω ελλινικα ακομα, αλλα καταλαβαινω λιγα.

This week has been all about GREEK.  I’ve gone to class for three hours a day (we’re supposed to get a half hour break, but some days we get only fifteen or twenty – one day we went over by half an hour).  It’s crazy intense.

Every day I leave feeling like my brain is about to explode.  This is compounded by the fact that my classmates have lived in Greece for several months.  When we practice speaking in class, they’ll throw in phrases they’ve heard or learned, and it’s all I can manage not to throw a fit and scream, “You can’t say things we haven’t learned in here!!”  I feel very dumb, especially since the girl who struggled the most dropped out.  I’m now definitely in the bottom three.

It’s easy to focus on that, because, well, perfectionism.  But on Wednesday I skyped with my mom and later with my grandparents, and I read them a paragraph from my textbook.  I mean, I read it in Greek.  “Do you know what you read!?” my mom asked.  “Yeah,” I said dully, because I’d mispronounced “δυο.”  “WOW,” she enthused.  “Three days ago you didn’t know any Greek.”   Continue reading →

Letters Between Friends: NETFLIX ADDICTION

Trish1 Comment

Yet another reason why Lindsay and I are such good friends…I can 100% understand her obsessive personality.  Why only like something if you can LOVE IT TO PIECES?  

LettersBtwnFriends

Dear Tricia,

I’m riding the struggle bus this week…

The first step is admitting I have a problem…so Tricia…I HAVE A PROBLEM…

netflix1

How does NETFLIX do this??  I’m consumed…It’s out of control…I think I’m ADDICTED!  I am currently watching “Switched at Birth.”

switched-at-birth

It’s basically all the normal family problems put to the extreme.  AND it includes deaf characters so LOTS of sign language.  It feels so good to see it all again… *sigh*

Signs of Addiction:

Loss of control:  It’s like I don’t even feel my finger hit the play button.  Wait?!!?

Neglecting Other Activities:  Dishes, cleaning up toys, the house, laundry, sleep.

Secrecy:  I’ve started watching it on my phone if I can’t sleep after laying in bed for an hour…with headphones…under the blanket…THE LIGHT COULD WAKE NATHAN UP!

Withdrawal:  I’m anxious to get to someplace with wireless and free time so I can watch more.

Change in Appearance:  Besides the bags under my eyes from being tired from staying up too late from watching, last night, I signed my sentence at Nathan during band practice when he was across the room.

Maybe this is just a “Switched at Birth” addiction…I’ve already looked into what it would take to become an interpreter…and signing in the car to practice…and looking goofy by myself when no one’s looking.

Nope…I don’t think so…I was like this with Scandal…and Jane the Virgin…and…well…ANYWAY!

Well, praise the sweet Lord for technology.  I needed our chat this weekend, and it’s comforting that the person who knows most is only a wireless signal away.

I’m praying for your sanity and your excitement and relationships and your new place.  AND we also have to figure out this time change…I’m realizing right now that it’s 5:30pm on Thursday right now, and your THURSDAY is almost over!  AH!

31puWzrZqbL

 

Sunday Summary #14: What’s on the Internet

TrishLeave a comment

Articles

1|  Alexander Hamilton was the nation’s first blogger, reconfirms my kinship with his oversharing inability to shut up.

2|  Alyssa Auriemma dissects Oprah’s comments and weight and does a great job dissecting the difference between weight concerns and health concerns.

Videos

1|  Saoirse teaching Stephen how to speak with an Irish accent is great, but the last minute or so when she reveals the pronunciation of crazy Irish names is THE BEST.

2|  WOW this cover of “Rey’s Theme” from The Force Awakens is stunning!  Halfway through I got chills, and they did not stop until it was over.  MUSIC, it’s so good.

3|  I found my favorite YouTube channel!  Sho Ko is all about two adorable cats, and I lost (gained?) precious hours of my life watching their cute little furry beings run around and beg for petting.  Also check out How Attached are Cats to their Owners?

Workout Week #7

TrishLeave a comment

THIS WEEK’S GOAL:  17 minutes at least 5 times a week.

WorkoutWeek 1.16.16

Workout Notes

Six days out of seven! (I didn’t work out on Sunday because….I had just arrived in a new country and didn’t feel like it.)  I think I’m actually….enjoying it??  Ugh, I kind of hate myself, because “those” kinds of people always seemed horrible and showoff-y to seven weeks ago lazy Tricia.  But several times this week I thought, “I could just not workout today” but then thought, “Nah, I want to.”  WHAT EVEN IS HAPPENING.

Partly it’s because there is a very slight indentation above my knee where I think I am developing a thigh muscle.  And my shoulders look more like shoulders and less like slopes extending from neck to hand.  Now that I can see some (tiny) tangible changes, it makes me want to keep going.

icon175x175Oh, and I discovered a new app!  Hah, if I’ve learned anything from this, it’s that I really do need constant change to stay interested.  I’m still doing the 30 Day Challenges (which are getting ROUGH), but I’m currently obsessed with Sworkit.  Four workout types are offered for free (stretch, yoga, cardio, strength). You can choose whether you want to work out for 5, 10, 15, etc minutes, and then it gives you random exercises in 30 second intervals.  I like to turn on some pop music and then do 10 minutes of light cardio.

Food Notes

I was going to give myself a pass, since 90% of moving to Greece was about the food (and, uh, the work I’m preparing to do).  But I don’t think it’ll be a problem.  Greeks don’t really overeat.  We have a big lunch, and then breakfast and dinner are small, and I haven’t really gotten hungry.  I do tend to snack on pistachios, which are very healthy AND super cheap here in the Mediterranean.

Actually, who knows?  I could eating horribly, because I’ve been guessing on a lot of the calories.  I can’t read the nutritional information on food bought here.  I’m googling most things and guesstimating, but I feel okay with that.  I’m being thoughtful about the things that I eat, and that’s what I care about most.

Plus: SLOUVAKI.  I’m not going to NOT eat that.

NEXT WEEK’S GOAL:  20 minutes at least 5 times a week.