T- 2 months

In only a mere 8 weeks I will be setting foot in the United States for only 6 weeks.

Before I can come back there are some very important things that must be done here.

1) Finish writing the 2nd grade spelling curriculum...yes, I, am writing - more like modifying the A Beka first and second grade curriculums into 1 along with the East Lansing School Corp. Sitton Spelling program. I am not a huge fan of the current curriculum so I'm supplementing it and using the best parts. AND making it ESL friendly.

WHY undertake such a huge task...well it's easy save money on one part to get more money for another part. WOOT. all this in hopes to have a decent Reading curriculum or at least a better Math.

2) Grades...always and forever on the minds of every teacher.

3) Packing up my life, but I'm getting ahead of myself with that one.

But back to the curriculum. I have created an Amazon.com wishlist of several curriculum supplements I would like to use next year. The beauty of Amazon is you can buy used. :) below is the link to my wish list. The items are ranked in order of my highest priority...once you see them you'll notice most of them are high.

You can see Brooke Anne Jantzen's entire Wish List at:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/PW5BXWCQLNY7

More later. That's it for now.

Remember when...

...I first posted about my beautiful new stairs to my roof?



Sadly they will soon lead to another house. That's right our landlord is building a second floor! :(

Today when I got back from town I saw
one GIANT cement truck with powder and cinder blocks.
about 15 Dominican men only 3 of which were the workers.
and one very happy and busy Guido.

Goodbye to the sweet view of our surroundings.

Goodbye peace and quiet.

Goodbye carport for drying clothes.

To see some pictures of our lovely pile of blocks/wall/fortress we now live in visit Natalie's blog.

*** do not believe everything you read--refering to the last portion of her blog...i did not talk to any of them except our landlord Guido.

Solo en Cristo

HE IS RISEN!

Today that is what I hold on to. Today I am sad and very homesick. But regardless of my homesickness, Christ still rose again on the 3rd day so that I might have life.

Three years ago I stood on top of one of the mountains here in Jarabacoa and had sunrise service with 25 amazing people. Just a week ago I stood on top of the same mountain again and saw my town; not just a town where I had spent 9 days, but a town that has become my home.

Celebrating my third Easter here has been a challenge. I haven't had the comforts of 25 smiling faces or a home cooked meal to look forward to. Instead I get to be blessed by my friends here in the DR who I only have known for 8 months. It has been a hard day full of tears and heartache for the opportunity to celebrate just one more Easter TU style.

This afternoon I will go to church and be blessed once more by the smiling faces of my church home here. It will be good to go and sing, clap, possibly dance and praise Jesus because He is risen.

I do not want this to be sad because as my student said "Jesus came to kill all the sadness". He came so that we could live with sadness, but have hope for our future home.

IN CHRIST ALONE
In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This Cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My Comforter, my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt of life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘til He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand

It Was Time For Something New

Welcome to the remodeled blog of me, Brooke.

I decided that since I am going to stay for one more year I better make my page a bit more user friendly. I am going to be slowly adding rearranging things on the site for the next few months. but the background and the header are here to stay I think. I like them.

On the right you will find everything to know about why I'm here, mailing address, past posts, and how you can help. I hope to be working up some charts for everyone to see where their support is going.

I am very excited to be staying another year because that allows me to continue the bonds I have made with students and some families here. Also the school is in transition as we will be saying goodbye to several teachers at the end of the school year. AGAIN if you need a job or knows someone who needs a job please e-mail me!

This past week has been spring break aka Semanta Santa (Holy Week). Holy Week pays homage to the Catholic society that dominates the DR like many Latin American countries. Unfortunately it isn't used to celebrate Christ's resurrection instead it becomes a week long party to drink and be crazy. This weekend will mark my 3rd Easter in the DR. It is so crazy to think that two years ago I was just setting foot on this island for the first time. God has been so faithful in those two years and continues to show His hand in many situations.

I headed off to the beach earlier this week with 5 girls. Thankfully there was no RAIN this trip! We set off on Monday morning armed with lots of bags and eagerness. We made it to San Fransico our first stop of the trip to head ot the grocery store; exciting I know. But here where our grocery options are limited it's nice to just browse the seemingless never-ending aisle of goods.

Then it was off to Nagua for some ocean-side basketball; none of us were amazing, but we had an amazing time soaking up the sun and playing with on of the little boys who stopped to watch. When we left 30 minutes later we had quite the crowd gathered to watch.

Then it was the final push towards Las Terranas. Sadly I have no pictures of our incredible adventure as again another camera has seemingly bit the dust. My "new" (6 month old) camera now only produces pictures in purple with black lines through it. I have not dropped it or gotten it wet so I am very frustrated. It's very discouraging to buy something when money is tight and then have it not work. Please pray that Kodak will help fix it or replace it.

Once we arrived in Las Terranas we unpacked into one of our apartments for the few days we were there and split up. Some of us going shopping for food and others going to the pool. It was nice to be away from Jarabacoa and unwind. Monday night involved a beautiful sunset (I promise to steal other people's pictures to share) and wonderful spaghetti dinner made in our tiny kitchen. Then it was off to bed in our nice big beds after wonderful hot showers.

Tuesday involved one thing...sunshine! I spent as much time outside as possible doing devotions on the beach, reading, snorkeling (first time) and then some wonderful pool time later on. I wish I could say that snorkeling was a success, but not prepping myself for the experience mentally was a poor choice. Perhaps some other time now that I can know what to expect.

Then Wednesday it was back home after one more moring on the beach. After our drive home we were all ready to crash and sleep.

The rest of the week has been pretty low key lots of reading and relaxing and avoiding the sun now that my back is nice and red. I spent this morning at school lesson planning for the week to come. I'm hoping that I can jump back into teaching with few problems.

I will do my best to get pictures to show you what a great time I had so stay tuned for more. Also, please be patient with site rearranging; it will probably take some time.

Frustration

Currently I sit in our administration building typing away at the updates of my life. Biggest update and frustration would be the lack of internet at my house. We have now been without internet for one week. I hate the dependency that I have on it here because it's my only connection to the outside world.

Next is SPRING BREAK is only 4 hours away!!! WOOT! 9 days of relaxing and sun. I'm headed on another 5 hour car ride to the northeast coast with 5 other girls. I'm super excited! Pray for our safety. I will leave Monday 6th and return Wednesday the 8th.