Hello from the other side... of the world... depending where you are. - not Adele. Just me, Matisse.

Hello from Seoul, South Korea

Happy 2016. I'm currently sitting in an Airport lounge which is so comfortably lovely and free so this may be in my top 5 favorite airports. I'm listening to C.S. Lewis's book Out of the Silent Planet and typing this. I'll just keep going on my Photo Diary. xx- Matisse

Vinegar fish and Chips are the best!!

The water is so cold in Australia but it's lovely contrast to the hot sun. Which does burn.  Fun fact. One must Always use Australian sunscreen in Australia.

The sun sets so quickly on the beach.

When at the beach on must always try ice-cream popsicles. 

Beach days are some of my favorite. I love the vastness of the ocean and the salty air. I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere. But for some reason every time I leave the beach I forget all about the sand and think only of the beautiful sunset and the laughter.

Baking. What gives you energy?

One day I was handed a bag of flour and a bag of oranges and asked to make something for morning tea the next day. (Side note: Yay for having tea times. I absolutely think they're the best things ever.) I love challenges and this certainly was one so I decided to make crepes because that just needs flour water and some milk. Then the oranges could be used for flavoring. After burning a few crepes and tossing them I remembered how to use the skillet. They actually turned out quite well. I used the orange peal and juice and sugar and boiled it to make some sort of past for them. The end.

Crepes are some of my favorite things. I really don't enjoy pancakes or Belgium waffles but I do love crepes and Norsk waffles. Nutella + strawberries + cream = heavenly goodness.

Vegemite is actually amazing. I love it. It's like spreading salt paste packets of ramen noodle on bread with butter. But it's actually healthy. #Winning

The bacon in Australia is like slices of ham. Which is fine by me because it means more bacon.

The girls in my house were all basically master chefs that could make beautiful outwork out of carrots, eggs, and spinach and chicken.

Photo Diary of the past 3 months

Hello Lovely people,

here are some pictures from the past 3 months. Tomorrow I fly out of Perth --> Jakarta, Indonesia --> Seoul, South Korea for New Years day then onto Chiang Mai, Thailand then to my new home.

It's really weird for me to not eat with a knife now. How do I get the food on my fork??

My Canadian housemate and I made a southern meal and fried chicken for the first time. It was amazing.

More hot pot and pick up sticks.

One monday I prayed for a thunder storm and one rolled in that night and when we got home this little prince was sitting in our lawn. Don't worry I didn't actually kiss him. He was released to play in puddles.

Instead of trick or treating on halloween we had a massive dance party and then went to Hungry Jacks ( Burger King Aussie version) and then came home to a house mate who had made us ice cream cookie sandwiches. Bless.

Nails were painted every other day.

We got a flat tire.

Here is a tunnel that we drive to get to the beach in. After living in Norway where it's taboo to keep windows open in a tunnel I always get nervous leaving them open here. But I'm still alive so I suppose it's not that bad.

No photo diary would be complete without the perfect picture of my thumb and a beach in the background.

This is one of my favorite things. The myers and briggs personality test is so interesting to me. I love reading up about different peoples personalities. I probably take it every 6 months and depending on what mood I'm in some percentages change but it always stays ENFP.

I love. Perth. So thankful for every lovely person I've met and gotten to know here. Cheers.

Homework time at the cafe El Fresco where milkshakes are $3 and shots of espresso are $.50

During the past 3 months I've baked so many chocolate chip cookie batches. I've lost count. But this one was special because I was so frustrated and tired that night and then I messed up the batter and just prayed that God would make them taste amazing and they honestly were the best cookies I've ever baked in my entire life.

This is one of my favorite spots to sit and read. It has an aircoditioner that blasts one me and the decorations are very koselig.

I painted this deer. It's quite festive and the wreath is alive and from our back yard.

Here is my hand covered in paint from painting a friends house and then a string of popcorn from decorating our house Christmas tree which also had tin foil stars and paper from a pictionary game. The crepe looking thing is actually my quesadilla.


 

Here is some amazing Chinese Hot Pot. It's really spicy and amazing.

For a friends birthday I made my first carrot cake from scratch that I can remember. Unfortunately I  just realized it's not even in this picture.. but there's hummus which is the best.

I recently read the book Climbing by Rosalind Goforth. Yes. It was beautiful and challenging and funny and inspiring.

This is maybe my new favorite food in the whole planet of the earth. It's Chinese sweet potato noodles and bok choy and carrots and potatoes and LOTS of CHILI which I LOVE and vinegar and other stuff. AMAZING.

A housemate got a package from home that included Beef Jerkey <3 and shared.

Happy Christmas week in the summer.  Christmas day was spent inside together eating and enjoying company then the next day, Boxing day, we all went to the beach.

The afternoon before Christmas week I set out with a friend to get gifts for my secret santa person. I ended dragging the dear soul around the city aimlessly wandering in search of the perfect under $10 gift which isn't easily found especially when stores close around 5. But at last I found one and then had an intense craving for pizza. We settled for pizza and a Kebab.

For my stocking stuffers I mixed salt, flour, and water to make a sort of clay, attempted to shape it into  hedgehogs and birds, then painted it with coffee and tied it with string. The best one that turned out was in the shape of Africa. I didn't even make that one haha. But it was lovely and only two people tried eating them.




Here is a turtle I painted and made. It was so cute.

When one lives in a house of girls something always seems to happen. Our something finally happened Christmas eve when all 8 of us had spent the entire afternoon making and wrapping and writing and finishing gifts to be stashed in the stockings on base and had left it until the last minute to run out to the van and race to base with only an hour before lockup time. When everyone piled into the van we discovered the tires were sunk deep into the sand of the vacant lot we park in. So we tried everything which included flooring the engine and burning some rubber creating an even deeper hole and then placing cardboard under tires and then boards which made it worse. When there was nothing else to do and only 20 minutes to spare we called one of the boys and asked if he could drive us. He showed up 5 minutes later on a skateboard. But behind him walking through the darkness of the Australian summer Christmas eve night there marched an army of men made up of 2 guys houses. Upon arriving and shoving it a couple times they declared the van stuck. Shockingly though after a neighbor with a tow truck mentioned he could easily tow it out they gathered up all their strength and decided to "Give it one last go, blokes." With a triumphant lift the van was on the road and we made it to stocking stuffing on time thanks to these heroes.

This Christmas one of my house mates was from Northern Ireland and of course I a UK lover wanted to watch the Queens speech. Unfortunately I didn't check and we watched the one from last year on Christmas day but I watched the 2015 speech later and cried along with the Doctor Who Christmas Episode.

Because our house was located relatively close to the guys house and we had wifi they were over often. Thankfully bacon and chocolate can be traded for free wifi and company.

Last night I went to a friends to play board games and ended up being an hour late but got to catch this stunning sunset as we drove to their house. It was mindblowingly beautiful and made me want to turn around and just drive until I got to the beach and could watch the fire sky until it left.

Here lies all of my belongings before I packed them all into 3 bags. Yay for new adventures and traveling.

This was my little home for my 3 months in Perth. It was filled with 8 other amazing girls and a guy who was also great and married to one of the girls. The back yard was huge and the laundry was hung up to dry everyday and was so soft and not at all crunchy.

Today Dec 30. We went to visit a chocolate factory and drove past this lovely vineyard. The chocolate was amazing and we also got to try different jams and my favorite one was the passion fruit jam because the seeds.


ps. I'll post more tomorrow.

xx - Matisse


 

Australia

Hello Everyone,

I'm currently in Perth, Australia. I've been her just 2 days but everything been happening so quickly. I left Dallas Tuesday morning and flew to LosAngeles --> Tokyo --> Singapore --> Perth. It went really well. I'm still a bit jet lagged but that's to be expected. Our school starts tomorrow night and I'll be trying to update my blog weekly. So far Australia is amazing. Full of new animals and plants. I'm living in a house with 8 other girls and a married couple in a little neighborhood. My room is 3 bunkbeds and I have the bottom bunk. The house has a green tin roof so it reminds me of Green Gables. I was looking out the window the first day and there were two beautiful green birds swooping over the backyard grass. I haven't seen them again but they were gorgeous. I keep wanted to grab different plants or flowers that are growing on the side of the road but when I look closely at them they are covered in multiple types of insects mostly bees which is nice but definitely helps me not to pick them. I took the train into the city today with some of my school mates and we went to Target to grab a beach towel and sunscreen because American sun lotion isn't strong enough here and yesterday we went by IKEA to get sheets and resisted getting a house plant. Tomorrow is Church and then at night we're meeting as a school. I hope each of you is doing well.

Love,
Matisse

PS here's a bit of a blogging I did in Singapore


I’m currently sitting in the Singapore Airport Terminal 3 facing an empty chair and charging table and around half a dozen people sleeping on the floor burrowed in their sleeping bags just starting to wake up. A wall of windows to my right I can slightly make out the lights from little baggage trucks and airplanes driving around. It’s 6am October 1st and I’ve been here from around 2am. To my right there are live trees with giant leaves shaped like hearts and behind me past a few more rows of seats and charging stations there is a playground and a group of construction workers setting up some kind of platform. Adventure has begun. I love traveling. There’s nothing quite like adventuring when it’s just Papa God and I waltzing around trying to find the right terminal and if they have a drinking water station or if I need to recheck my bags. He is so good. My first flight to LosAngeles went well. I don’t remember much about it except the lovely grandfather who helped me locate my terminal which thankfully was just a 5 minute walk away. In Tokyo everything was very neat and clean and quiet but we were only there for around 45 minutes so I just sat at my gate. I visited the butterfly garden here in Singapore and it was lovely. All the little butterflies were asleep but the cocoon hatchery was full and some were trying to get out of their little coverings. When I was little we had a dear friend who worked in a giant area of gardens and we would go visit all the plants and butterflies. I’m going to go check to see if they’re awake yet and then board the plane for Perth.

Australia in 3..2...1... Ready or not here I come!

Hello dear friends and family, I wrote this blog earlier but just now was able to post it.

9/15/2015
right now I'm sitting in my room at my aunt and uncle's house. It's 10:19 or 22:19 at night and I have a British youtubers christmas vlog going in the background which is making me so excited for Christmas.. It's almost here just a few more months. But leaving for Perth is almost here and not just a few months away. It's in less than two weeks. I'm getting really excited and a bit restless. Yesterday marked a year from the day I landed in Norway. The time has flown by but so much has happened. I realize I haven't blogged in quite some time. Here are a few paragraphs to hopefully fill in some missing pieces.

Perth:

The first time I was asked about doing a school in Australia was September/October last year while chatting with my dear friend in Norway. We were talking about my plans for the future and what the next step after Norway would be. She suggested looking into some schools in Perth, Australia and I laughed and said no that definitely isn't part of my plan. Throughout the school bits and pieces of stories about The Middle East and East Asia kept coming up and each time my heart would just ache to be there doing something to make some tiny difference. I would see videos about the refugees and feel so angry at all the wars and destruction that is happening and just wish I could go. At this point I was still panning on staying in Norway for a few more years to staff a school or two and then go to another school with a focus on what I wanted to do and then go. Fast forward to February. I met a friend in Asia who had gone to a school in Australia that focuses on cross culture studies and suggested that I take the same school when it started in October. I said I'd look into it but tried to blow it off because it wasn't part of my plan. I was going back to Norway. But then I started talking to God about it. March and April and most of May I was just a mess. I had fallen absolutely in love with Norway and my friends and home there and the last thing I wanted to do was give that up and start over. Which is slightly funny because God picked Norway for me and it was better than I could have even imagined but when He asked me to step out of the boat my knees were shaking and the boat that was sinking looked more comfortable than the sea that my savior stood on. But He is such a  good and patient Papa. Thankfully He didn't look at my little faith and walk off but just patiently loved and guided me. During those months I spent a lot of time being Gideon and throwing out my sheep skin over and over until finally I figured out that God was saying GO to PERTH. It took my sister calling me out of the blue and telling me I should go to Australia and then hanging up a few minutes later because she didn't know why she had called and a lovely couple who were visiting Norway that just so happened to live in Perth and had lived in Asia making an effort to sit down and talk to me. So I emailed the school leader and got a lovely quick response and that was that. God has been working on my heart and using this to take me deeper with Him. I'm learning to just jump and trust that if He's asking me to jump He knows what's best. It feels a bit like that scene from Divergent when Tris jumps off the building not knowing what's at the bottom but trusts that if she's being asked to do it then they will provide the safety net.

 At  the beginning of June I was a little nervous coming back home. I didn't want to spend 3-4 months wishing I was back in Norway or Asia but I also didn't want to get back and try to fit myself back into the mold I left last September. God has been so good and although it's been lots of ups and downs I've really enjoyed this summer. When I got home in June my Uncle invited me to work for his business. I worked in an office answering phones and typing information and conducting customer interviews over the phone. It was way different than anything I've done before but it was a really great opportunity. Everyone I worked with was so kind and made me feel so welcome and I loved getting to interact with people over the phone.

It was hard to be at a desk all day but I learned a lot about patience and being present where God placed me. It was very easy to sit and day dream about being somewhere else or back in Norway or even wishing I was already in Perth but I din't want to waste an entire summer wishing I was somewhere else. At the beginning of the summer I read a book by Elisabeth Elliot and one of my favorite quotes from her book was by her husband Jim Elliot "Wherever you are - be all there." 

 That quote was so helpful during my days of dreaming about what I could be doing. It helped me to really enjoy the chances I had talking to the customers or chatting with the girls at the office or even the weekends at home with my family.

In the beginning of August my mother and my 3 youngest siblings moved to the island of Saipan. 

My mother is now teaching kindergarten and 1st grade while my siblings attend school there. I'm beyond proud of them making this huge transition and following what they felt God was calling them to do. It's definitely been a journey but I can't wait to see what God has in store for them in the next few months. It's been really cool getting to catch up with them and hear all of their experiences living in an island community. The day before they landed on the island it was hit by the worst typhoon in over 20 years so they ( as far as I know.. things might have changed in the past few days) are living without running water and electricity most of the time. They are able to get wifi at a cafe across the road from their apartments and have been enjoying exploring the island with new friends and the boys have been learning new skateboarding tricks, lots of new soccer moves, as well as lots of backflips and hand stand walking. My sister's currently on her 20 something book in the past month, maybe more but I don't remember either 20 or 40 but anyhow lots of reading. It's a bit odd not having a home base with my immediate family in the states anymore but right now home for me is more where I lay my head down and who I'm with wether that's the Dubai airport or my little house in Perth rather than one specific building or place. 

Email

I'm writing a blog post to be on here soon but until then if anyone needs to contact me you can reach me at henrialfred@hushmail.com

Love,
Matisse

Back in Norway

Hello friends and family,
Just a quick post to let you know I made it safely back to Norway.
love,
Matisse

Life looks like..

Life for me currently looks like:

 learning that it’s okay. I’m 19. I’m learning to breathe. Learning who I am and what I like. What things I don’t like.
It looks like not freaking out when I realize that I now am responsible for myself.
It’s being okay with living by cliche quotes like “ Don’t compare you’re beginning to someone else’s middle or end.” Because it’s so much easier to do that than sit back and realize you know what that’s so true. I am just me and they are them and that’s totally fine. I’m learning to sit back and let “Jesus take the wheel” because I trust Him driving even though sometimes I get nervous because I don’t know what’s around the next turn.
I’m learning to be kind to myself because 19 is a time to dream big dreams even if they sound crazy to everyone even myself sometimes. To be kind to myself because He will bring everything into place into it’s own time and I don’t need to spend time stressing about anything.
Life looks like getting text messages from friends and realizing how dear they are to me but also how badly my heart is hurting missing them.
It looks like having a good friend lend me coverup, having another good friend point out that there are patches of color all over my face that are 5 shades too dark, and then another friend providing a wet wipe because I was sitting on a bus when they finally noticed it because the hotel lighting was good at camouflaging it.
Life looks like learning to laugh at myself because there really is no other way to go.
Life looks like laying in bed at night and then getting really homesick and falling to sleep listening to George Straight.
It looks like eating lots of ice cream cones and enjoying good rice noodles.
Life looks like listening to happy music while getting ready in the morning or after busy days it looks like hiding in the bathroom listening to music (current favorite “ShutUp and Dance” by walk the moon) and having secret dance parties all by myself.
 It looks like putting on some makeup on days when I don’t feel pretty because sometimes I just need that extra boost of confidence. At the same time it looks like going days without makeup because that’s great too plus I can rub my eyes and not look like a raccoon.
Life looks like listening to lots of Les Mis and enjoying painting my nails teal sometimes or other times like right now, lavender.
It looks like sleeping on a little mat on hotel room floors and learning how to wash clothes in the sink or shower.
It’s being super thankful for a shower with good water pressure and a heater that works.
It’s listening to sermons and TED talks about leadership,dreaming big dreams, and changing the world and getting stoked about all the potential here and all the possibilities that the future holds.
Life looks like being encouraged and inspired by other people all over the world through instagram and reading their stories about how they’re making a difference and loving people.
It looks like realizing everyone is getting engaged and being so excited and also overwhelmed by how fast life happens.
Life looks like learning what it means to patiently wait but also be preparing for what is to come. To expect exciting things to come and for life to get better and better.
It looks like learning about capacity and stewardship over what I’ve been given and what I will be given in the future.
Life looks like learning not to stay up too late thinking about what and how I want to write blog posts or what I’m going to say if I get the chance to speak about things I love. It also looks like actually taking time to write blogs or take quick notes when thoughts pop into my head. I’m learning to journal and write lots of letters to God.
Life looks like having a mini freak out when I went outside for one hour and got sun burned because my skin is currently around the same shade as a piece of paper when it was “medium/dark” tone this summer *tear* I miss West Texas sun and daily soccer practice/lifeguarding.
 Life looks like learning how to live with people who I love dearly but are completely the opposite of me ( good practice for marriage haha ) It’s learning how sometimes I just have to let things go because it’s not really that big of a deal and then other times it looks like learning to stand up for myself and set up boundaries because I don’t have to please everyone. It looks like putting those around me first or asking for forgiveness when I don’t. It looks like learning to listen a lot more than speak and really hearing people.
Life looks like learning to believe the highest about the people I’m living life with and being bold enough to speak out when something is really bothering me.
Life looks like running to Jesus for everything. Talking to Him about every little tiny detail and worry and joy and exciting thing. It’s learning how to walk into a deeper relationship with Him everyday because love is a choice. But it’s thrilling and challenging at the same time. So much of me wants to do other things rather than spend time in the word or journal but He is so so good and constant and patient. I listened to a sermon the other day and the speaker talked about how when you’re in love with someone, I mean really truly deeply in love with a person, you will be willing to sacrifice everything to be with them no matter what it was. He said just how nothing is too much of a sacrifice for two people in love that’s how we as Christians should see our relationship with Jesus. How no matter what He asks us to do or where He asks me to go He is worth it. He is so much better than anything else. Nothing can compare. I love this picture. So many times people have asked how I feel about everything I’ve given up to be where I am doing what I’m doing, giving up precious time with my family, missing events, missing out on watching my siblings grow up, not being there for friends during tough times because I’m on a different continent and it’s 3am in the morning when they need to talk, or missing out on just the typical american college/dating experience. I do miss my family&friends and love the opportunities when I get to see them but nothing compares to Jesus. Everything is completely pointless and a waste of time without Him. None of this is sacrifice when I look at Him. I would rather be here doing what I’m doing in the will of God than anywhere else in the entire world. Aaah It’s just so exciting to me and such a privilege to be able to spend the rest of my life loving people and loving God. I think one of my favorite things was by Marguerite Porete when she said something like - when you love Jesus nothing is work anymore. For the rest of your life everything you do, every breath you breathe, can be an act of love for Him. How awesome is that!!! It’s like this huge adventure and I just get to be a part of it. A huge symphony that I get to play my note in. Everyday definitely isn’t easy, most days harder than just a chill ride but He is constantly modeling and melting me down and shaping me into the best version of myself and I don’t have to worry about failing or succeeding I just need to obey, love, and focus on Him. Everything will come and the only thing that matters is focusing on Jesus. Yay God.
Thank you guys all for your prayers and support.
love love love, Matisse