Christmas Travels Day Two

Yesterday was a lovely relaxing day for me. I slept in and headed out to check out all the shopping around Lauren that exists nowhere in Abilene. The highlight of the afternoon was The Container Store. This store is crazy! It has containers for things that I did not even know needed containers. It is an organizer's heaven. I just wandered around the store for like an hour looking at all the crazy stuff they have. I hate to go negative, but our society sure does know how to make me want something I know I don't need. 

The two coolest items I saw there were these disguised safes to go in your car. For example, there was one that looked exactly like a Dr. Pepper can but surprise! you can open it up and store your valuables in it to make sure no robbers look inside your car and want to steal you stuff. Nope, they just look in and see a Dr. Pepper can. Cool huh? The second item was a bulletin board made out of recycled paper. What was interesting was that you could actually see all the strips of paper that were packed into this board. They where packed in so close that you could tack something to it or slide things between the paper. I guess it is hard to describe. You just have to experience it yourself or check out this website for a picture.

After The Container Store I spent some time at Barnes and Noble. It's obvious I live in a small town when I am excited by wandering around B & N. That night I got to be culture and went to see A Christmas Carol that the BFF was in. The show was great and so was Lauren. It was a beautiful production and even kinda scary. We came home, decorated cookies and called it a night. Sadly I did not take any pictures. Maybe something exciting will happen today to take pictures of. My only plan for today is to make some more cookies, browse Half Price Books, hang out with Lauren and then spend the evening with my Ashers! Cant wait! My Christmas travels continue...

The Christmas Travels of Dee Begin

I left Abilene today to begin my Christmas travels. I headed to the DFW area to hang out with a few different friends. The first one, Mer, flew in from Nashville to visit various friends and since our time happened to overlap I got to be one of those friends. Our visits in DFW are always interesting since neither of us know our way around or where is best to meet but we had great success this time. We began by having a wonderful Mexican lunch, browsed a book store and then found a very exciting treat. I just happened to be browsing the names of stores in a strip mall and "what to my wondering eyes should appear," but an...

Me and Mer were so thrilled! We both studied abroad in Uruguay and spent time in Argentina and since that is where I did an internship I could not have been more thrilled to step into that world for a few moments. The woman who waited on us was from Mendoza and had the most beautiful Argentine accent. 

The pastries were beautiful and most of the full or covered with Dulce de Leche. I was such a dork taking pictures and acting like a complete tourist.
Mer and I enjoyed some wonderful Cafe con Leche and I had an alfahore and a medialuna. The coffee was so great and so were the treats. We were both just bubbling with excitement, reliving our South American experiences. There was a shelf full of Mate and other Argentine goodies and Spanish speaking people kept coming in and out. It was a wonderful way to spend time with Mer.

It was a blustery, snowy day and Mer and I had a blast. I was sad it had to be so short, but better than nothing. Come visit me in Abilene Mer! Now I am hanging out in the BFF's apartment, enjoying her heat, DVR and sweet dog, waiting for her to come home. What a blessed day!

Where will my Christmas travels bring me next? Check back soon to find out!

Blessings Blog

This blog is inspired by the BFF. She wrote about her blessings and encouraged others to do the same. I have been lacking in blogging thoughts lately so this is a good one. Here are my blessings that I am so thankful for and do not deserve!

>I am done with my second semester of grad school and still don't want to quit!
>Amazing roommates who I love to spend time with. I loved our Christmas night together.
>My family is almost completely free of health problems for the first time in a while. Keep my mom in your prayers still though.
>I had a super fun day yesterday celebrating Kaylynn's graduation
>My mission teammates are amazing and I cannot wait for us all to be together again
>Sometimes God provides for needs before I even knew I had them
>Dr. Pepper :)
>I have made friends being in grad school here that I never anticipated and they bless my life so much
>A brother and slaw (my new word for sister-in-law) that are welcoming me into their house for a week
>A slaw who is brave enough to teach me to knitt
>A BFF who wants me to visit her even when she does not have time. Can't wait to see you!
>Time to read books for fun
>The sun is so beautiful and warm today
>A warm snuggly bed to sleep as much as I want in
>NO SCHEDULE FOR A MONTH!!
>A nice place to take walks
>Interesting neighbors
>Friends who listen to my silly rambling and even relate sometimes
>Parents who love me and support me even though I am moving to a crazy foreign country
>Kate-my Subaru
>Coffee
>Leftovers
>Texans beating the Titans and actually being a team that I can hope to win sometimes
>Cleaning jobs that are flexible with holiday schedules
>Christmas time= family, fun, joy, Christ, giving, love
>A front porch
>Amazing roommate pictures hanging on our wall thanks to Donald and his amazing talent
>Jess being pregnant
>Visiting friends
>Emails to and from Randi

Whew! I could go on an on but you don't want to read all of that. Think about what you are blessed with!

Hooray for Christmas Break

I am officially done with my semester and it feels great. Tonight I ate dinner, watched some friends, read a magazine and....yea thats about it. Wow thats nice to do not having school hanging over my head. I am quite sick of being on the computer right now so maybe in a few days I will get back into the blogging world. Now its off to....do not much! :)

Pomegranates

It's pomegranate season! I ate my first one today (actually only half) and it was wonderful. As soon as I cut into it juice flowed out and almost every little seed/fruit thingy was juicy and delicious! I have been looking forward to pomegranate season for a while now and was very excited the other day when they came out at our store.

I had my first pomegranate almost a year ago when I moved back to Abilene. It was short course week before school started and I spent a lot of time around the house hanging out with my new roommates. I think it was Shannon and Shannon that introduced me and I loved them!

They are somewhat difficult to eat, and sometimes the seeds shoot out of your fingers across the room but I love them. They are sweet and juicy and have an interesting flavor.

Looking for an image I found out such interesting "facts" on Wikipedia. First, they are super healthy! They are thought to fight heart disease and cancer. Also, they are Biblical!! They are mentioned in Exodus as being a part of the priestly robes and in 1 Kings as being a part of the temple. Apparently, they are thought to be a symbol of righteousness because they have 613 seeds just like there are 613 commandments in the Torah. They are also known as a Christan symbol as well.

Who knew I was eating such a healthy, holy fruit. I just thought it was yummy and interesting to eat! :)

Cannot Wait!!!!

Wow! This really makes me excited and want to watch Season 4 again!

Lost - Season 5 Trailer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enough Already

I am sick of thinking about myself, thinking about my personality, my strengths, my weaknesses, how these are going to play out in my life and what I need to work on. It feels like this semester has been a "lets pick Dee apart" semester and it is wearing me out.

The semester began with taking slew of personality and ministry profile tests for grad school. It moved to an entire weekend of going over my DISC profile, sharing about it, comparing it to my teammates and seeing where we were going to fail. After that I had to share my genealogy of my family and explain the ins and outs of us. The this weekend I got to go over my personality and ministry tests from the beginning, having people examine then and explain them to me. Then I just spent time going over them myself, seeing my positives and negatives and setting goals.

All I want to do now is not think about myself ANYMORE!! Before this semester I could have told you where I succeed, where I fail and why but did that matter? Nope! Had to do it all anyways. Most of the things would have been fine on their own but all piled into a couple of months has been exhausting! I feel very self aware and like I need to fix all my flaws today. What's funny is most of these flaws have been apart of me my whole life and I do not see them changing anytime soon. It is good to be aware but I might be a little too aware right now. I am very thankful for these programs I am in and know that they just want to help. It was just bad timing.

Beware if you ask me how I am doing. I might end up vomiting all my personality on you. Nice image huh? :)

Whats New

Each day this week I have done new things I have never done before. I am like Ross on Friends and his New Years resolution...except that none of them have really been with that in mind, they just happened.

Today I voted. I'm 24 and never voted before you are asking. Nope, I have voted before but just not in this way. My first election was for Governor of Texas and I early voted and it was a paper ballot. The presidential election 4 years ago I did absentee because I was in Abilene and I voted in my precinct in Houston. That was before I realized how easy it was to change where you voted. So this year I registered to vote in Abilene. The lines were short and it was electronic w/ a little wheely thing. When did they start that? I thought it was pretty cool except that I did a write in vote so it took a little while to spin out their names. I'm very interested to see who wins. I know the person I voted for sure won't but at least I feel good about it.

Yesterday I got a flu shot. That was a first as well. I probably have not had the flu since Jr. High but last semester my roomie got the flu and I was so nervous and paranoid because I do not have time to be out for a week. And now I live in an even smaller house so I know that soon our immune systems will be down and if anyone of us gets sick I probably would too. So I found the cheapest place in town and went for it. It was super easy and so far the only side effect has been a sore left arm. My mom said she never gets sick from it but Ellen did so I was a little nervous. I pumped myself full of vitamin C yesterday so maybe that helped. So this is a trial run. I am hoping my flu free streak will continue.

Sunday I made a slight fool of myself. Now that is not something new but it was in a new silly way. Luckily only Kelli witnessed it but I thought I would share anyways. KB and I were going for a walk Sunday evening after church. We have become very aware of the cats around our house lately because our cat has been making friends/enemies/becoming the Godfather of them. As we left the house the cat I call white paws was hunched over in the street having a stand off with another cat across the street. I ran at them yelling "black river of death" and they ran off. I call the road the "black river of death" because it is a very dangerous place for little cats and they need to learn.

KB and I walked a little further on, turned the corner to head towards campus and there was another cat in the middle of the road. At first I questioned whether it was a cat or not but then it moved so I was sure. Even more dramatic than the time before I ran at the cat yelling "black river of death," but I should have stuck with my first instinct. It was an empty chip bag. Wow did I feel dumb. KB and I laughed for a long time!

That's all for now. What will I come up with next!

All Hallows Eve Extravaganza

I love Halloween. I know some people think it is a Satan holiday but I think it was originally a Christian holiday that came before today's holiday, All Saints Day. Whatever the case, it is a fun night to spend with friends, dress silly and eat yummy food. That is what we did last night and it was a blast. We all brought Halloween themed food, ate a lot, most of us dressed up, we carved pumpkins, passed out candy, had a sing along, watched impressions, played games, and laughed a lot! It was a great night. Here are some pics that captured the moments.

instead of pigs in a blanket these are pig mummies

the chicas workin' hard in the kitchen: ellen (the cat) making brownie bites and me (static) and sara (pink panther) making chilean pumpkin sopapillias

all our yummy food- we put the whipped cream on the brownie bites a little too soon, they melted and some of them fell off

wes (the mormon) wanting to kill reid (the non-costumer that we decided could be jack from lost) and chad (peter pan) watching

making caramel apples

carving pumpkins
our pumpkins in order: me, chad/sara, wes/ellen,

us with our pumpkins

the guys like to play fifa...we don't

Lenka - The Show (With Lyrics)

Enjoy The Show

I am not a huge music person. I enjoy music but rarely do I really connect with anything. Today I was in the kitchen working on my snack for the evening heard this great song on my itunes that I had not heard before. I really connected with the lyrics and felt like I could be the one singing the song. Maybe not all the lyrics, but most of them. It is a fun song and I am putting the video about this. Enjoy The Show!

I'm just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I don't know where to go I can't do it alone (I've tried)
and I don't know why its cuz jollys cool

Slow it down make it stop
or else my heart is going to pop 'cuz it's too much
Yeah, it's a lot to be something I'm not

I'm a fool out of love
'cuz I just can't get enough

I'm just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I don't know where to go I can't do it alone (I've tried)
and I don't know why

I am just a little girl lost in the moment
I'm so scared but I don't show it
I can't figure it out it's bringing me down
I know I've got to let it go
and just enjoy the show

The sun is hot in the sky just like a giant spotlight
The people follow the sign and synchronize in time
It's a joke nobody knows they've got a ticket to that show
Yeah

I'm just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I dont know where to go I can't do it alone (I've tried)
and I don't know why

I am just a little girl lost in the moment
I'm so scared but don't show it
I can't figure it out it's bringing me down
I know I've got to let it go
and just enjoy the show

oh oh Just enjoy the show oh oh

I'm just a little bit caught in the middle
Life is a maze and love is a riddle
I dont know where to go I can't do it alone (I've tried)
and I don't know why

I am just a little girl lost in the moment
I'm so scared but I don't show it
I can't figure it out it's bringing me down
I know I've got to let it go
and just enjoy the show

dum de dum dudum de dum
Just enjoy the show
dum de dum dudum de dum
Just enjoy the show

I want my money back
I want my money back
I want my money back
Just enjoy the show

I want my money back
I want my money back
I want my money back
Just enjoy the show

Blood, Taco Bell and Old People

I really like being an observer. I don't know if I would call myself observant when it comes to important things but I love observing the world as it moves around me and questioning things in my head. Lucky for the people around me that I have a filter because if I asked every question that popped into my head I might get annoying. Along with observing and thinking I love when my life randomly collides with strangers and I get to share a moment with someone I will probably never see again. I will take you through my morning/afternoon yesterday and explain the thoughts I had and the people I ran into. They may seem boring but it keeps life interesting in my head thats for sure.

I went to the eye doctor for the 3rd week in a row. The first week had an infection I needed to get checked out. He gave me drops to take for a week. The next week I got the ok that everything was fine and got a trial pair of contacts to wear. This week I went in to say the trial pair was good and to order new ones. Things I thought about were:

1. What would make someone want to look at people's eyes all day long for years for their job?
2. What does he think of me (regular thought, not because I worry, just because I am curious)?
3. What days coordinate with what color? (the assistants always have matching colored shirts that have been a different color each time I have gone)
4. What are these people's lives like outside of this job? (another regular thought, I always want to walk in people's shoes for one day and see the world through their eyes)

After the eye doctor I went to give blood at the blood center. They called me a few months ago to give because they were low on my type. I went in but my iron was too low to give. Then lately I have been more tired than I should be and my mom thought maybe my iron was low since I don't eat much meat. What is a good free way to get your iron checked? Give blood! My iron was fine but giving blood always spurs a lot of questions.

1. How would the question lady respond if I said yes to questions like "have you had sex with someone infected with HIV" or "have you ever paid money for sex with a prostitute" or "have you ever used a needle for drugs." Do people really go in there and say yes?
2. Why are there always blood taker people with big earrings and stylish hair?
3. What makes someone want to be a blood taker? Is it a dream job or just something to do?
4. Is that girl having a bad day or does she always talk bad about people behind their backs?
5. What do these people think of me?
6. Do the people in the hospital appreciate the blood taker people or look down on them?
7. I sure hope these needles are sterile.
8. Are they really thankful for me giving or do they have to say that?
9. Do these people want to have conversations while they work or to just be left alone?

The blood told me to eat a hardy meal and since I don't have much hardy food at my house I went to Taco Bell on my way home for a cheap, hardy meal. Taco Bell is the perfect place for observation and talking with strangers. Every time I go there I end up talking to someone and they are usually old. So here we go.

1.Why do old people like Taco Bell? My grand parents love it and half the store was filled with them.
2. Is the girl at the counter really excited to be working there or faking it? I like her either way.
3. Why is that old man eating alone? Is he getting food for his wife or is she dead and he is really lonely?
4. Does the old man talking to me need someone to talk to or is he just being friendly to me like I was to him when I started the conversation?
5. Is it strange to talk to people I don't know? Will I ever see them again? Are we all connected like on Lost?
6. Why did he just wink at me?
7. Does that old woman look mad because she is or she just looks like that?
8. How would any of these old people respond if I gave them a hug or sat down to eat with them?
9. What response are you looking for when you tell me ACU is a great school?

People and this world just fascinate me!! How silly that I get such entertainment and joy out of going to the eye doctor, giving blood and eating at Taco Bell! Life sure is interesting if you just look around and enjoy it.

On a different note I just had to share this pictures of our team meeting. Aren't we so cute!

And thanks so much to Sara for sporting the best hair style ever in honor of me!

The Girls

I would like to introduce you to two very important women in my life. These are the women on my mission team (minus one, and we miss you!). The guys had a night last night so we decided to embrace the cold evening and get some hot chocolate together. It was a wonderful evening as it always is when we hang out. We talked about food, jobs, memories, Halloween, and how nervous and unprepared we feel to begin the fund raising process. Luckily we are a team and do not have to do any of it alone. Love you girls!!!! Stay tuned for the first annual Team Conce Halloween Party! :)

Peace

Amigos

What a wonderful weekend this has been! It is homecoming here at ACU which I did not participate in at all but it brought lots of good friends into town for me to see.

First, my Colorado BFF Jeremy and his girlfriend came into town. It was his 5 year reunion and lots of his friends were coming into town so he flew down. The stopped by Friday afternoon to say hey, then I had lunch with them on Sat. and went to a BBQ Sat. night. It was great to see him and catch up and meet Tami. He made me miss Colorado and all the fun I had with him there. Hopefully I can make my way up there in the near future.

Second, one of the girls from the youth group in CO was in town so her and another girl from that youth group who is here at ACU came over last night. We sat around and chatted and ate ice cream for like 3 hours and it was so great to see them. I got caught up on all that was happening in CO and in their lives. They are such amazing girls and it was so fun to share and laugh and tell stories. We went through everyone in the youth group we could think of and they told me what was going on with them. So great! Another reminder of my missing Colorado.

Third, my best friend Ashley and her husband came into town to spend time with his family. They are Harding Alum so it was funny that they came to Abilene for ACU homecoming but it was just a good time. So we had breakfast this morning and then I got to go see their 2 beautiful dogs. Another wonderful time of talking and eating and catching up. It was not long enough but hopefully I will get to see them again soon at Christmas. Jan I know you read this so lets to X-Mas Eve all together this year!!! :)

Now it is back to reality. Knowing I had a busy, non-study filled weekend I read ahead in one class but I still have plenty of reading to do the rest of today and I have to fit it in while watching the Texans hopefully win....or not because I just looked and they are not on TV here. Stupid Cowboys!

Deep Thoughts by Dee

Thoughts that occurred to me today:

It is my two year college reunion. Not that they have a reunion for that, but if they did...

I would rather go to a Halbert Institute for Missions reunion than an ACU one. I'm such a missions dork.

The cool weather and my Patagonia fleece make me miss Colorado.

I have a lot to read this weekend.

Islam fascinates me!

Will the Texans ever earn my trust again?

I am not a good story teller.

I really enjoy the little joys of nature and I wonder if other people see what I see because they are missing out if they don't.

I cannot wait to carve a pumpkin!

I hope I can find someone creative with computers to design my mission update letters...for free.

Why do radio stations play clips of people saying how awesome the station is...it especially seems strange for the Christian ones.

I like my contacts.

Updates and Cookie Cakes

I have not been blogging a ton lately with school and activities filling my time but I thought I would share what have I been up to.

Two weeks ago I took a trip home to see my parents and brother and sis-in-law. We had a super chill weekend because my mom was sick so we just hung around, watched movies, played games, watched football and chatted. I got some good mom time laying with her on the bed when she didn't feel like doing anything else.

This past weekend I spent the weekend at a retreat at Lake Brownwood. The retreat was called Module Two and it was a part of my missions training. So me, my team, a couple other teams and our mentors spent the weekend together. This retreat was focused on relationships. We went through the DISC personality test and talked about each of our personalities a lot and the importance of really knowing each other. We also got to discuss where we stood on certain theological issues to see where we were on the same page, where we weren't and what was important.

It was an intense, full, and amazing weekend. We had a ton of team time and I feel very self aware after thinking about my personality compared to others all weekend. I love my team so much and am so thankful to be on this journey together.

At this retreat we celebrated two things. First, that a year ago we first met the Lukkasons. I drove down to Abilene from Colorado and them from Oklahoma and we spent a weekend together getting to know each other and feeling each other out to see if it would be a good fit. Only by God did it work out and work out well. I am so thankful for them and the important roles the play on our team. Second, it was the first real team activity that we had done as a fully formed and committed team. We had done other things missing a few or before others made decisions not to be on the team so this was a first.

What do I like to do to celebrate things? Cookie Cakes!!!! You can see from the picture that it was delicious and I know you are drooling with jealousy! :) On the cookie is the Chilean flag (very similar to the Texas flag you will notice), the words "Hooray Team Conce" which is our name, and a poorly drawn, yet quite successful with icing, picture of Chile (the long skinny thing on the rt. side).

Other small things I have been up to have been watching The Office, enjoying the cool weather we had last week, buying a new red fleece for winter, and trying not to loose hope in the Houston Texans. I know they have won their last 2 games but after the first 4 I just cannot trust in them yet. I know that sounds so corny but its true! I need some time to heal before our relationship can be normal again since they ripped my heart out (and their own I'm sure) in the Colts game. (being a little dramatic if you can't tell).

I am not sure what to do about the election. I keep saying I will do some research to make up my mind and yet the closest I have come to watching any of the debates has been Saturday Night Live skits. I want to take advantage of my right to vote but I cannot with confidence put either man in office w/o fear of what may occur because of them. Which is more important? Exercising my right to vote or picking someone I somewhat trust. Please do not take this as an opportunity to push your political views on my easily swayed mind, I'm just rambling.

Last, I want to share my excitement of my surprise this evening. I got a call from an unknown number and was unavailable when it rang. When I listened to the message my heart dropped. My friend Cris who is a missionary in Brazil called and I did not answer it! Dang it! I went on a bike ride with a roomie and came back and sent a message to Cris saying I would LOVE for her to call me back AND SHE DID! It was so fun to hear her voice and hear how she was doing all the way in Brazil! Cris I am so thankful to have you and your example in my life and I was so excited to get a call from you. I am praying for you and cannot wait to see what God has planned for you.

That's All Folks! I leave you with this cute picture of the roomies and our first puzzle together. Oh, and Happy Halloween! Go carve a pumpkin!

The Poof

Maybe I am just totally out of style and have no clue what is going on, but what is up with the hair poof? I know this seems like a really shallow and silly post...I guess it is. But I was walking through the campus center today and I try to not have judgmental thoughts about people, but this girl had her hair poofed so high on her head I think it was half the size of her face! It made me wonder about this new style of hair and how it is everywhere in the younger population.

The hair poof seems like an updated version of the 1950's hairstyle the Beehive. Is that what we are going for ladies? I can understand if you have poofy hair (like me) and want the top of your hair to match the rest of your hair, but to make your hair board straight and then have this blob of hair on top just seems silly, ESPECIALLY when you can see through the poof to the other side! That really cracks me up. Or having a cute, nice pony tail and messing the top of your head up with what looks like an ocean wave or a skateboard ramp.
Now I will say that I have a couple of friends that pull this off ok, so please do not be offended by this post. It is just my uneducated hair opinion. I just do not understand who thought this up and decided it was a good way to wear our hair. I know it is going to be one of those things girls look back on 20 years from now and say "what was I thinking!" Or at least I hope so. And you should see how much info there is for this hairstyle on the internet. There are so many how to sites and videos on this goofy style, like it is difficult. I don't get it.

There also is a difference between the poof and just pulling your hair back off your face (see image below for a normal example). I pin the top of my hair back sometimes, and even when I am wearing a pony tail for a little variety, but not the poof. Never the poof!


The poof is almost worse than the huge bug sunglasses!! :)

Things I Noticed

I am at home in Houston right now, sitting on my parents couch in a quiet house. My dad, brother and sis-in-law drove into H-town to go to Ikea but I chose to stay home and study (which I have done some) and be with my poor sick mom.

As I drove here yesterday I noticed/experienced some interesting things I feel like sharing.

1. I passed this church looking building that made me wonder what was going on there. First, the name was Overcoming Faith Community Center. What does that mean? If it is a church, why are they wanting to overcome faith? Wouldn't that mean they were stronger than faith? That does not make sense. If they are not a church, is it a group that is maybe against faith? I wonder...

2. I got to stop at the coolest rest stop ever! I can never make the 6 hr. drive w/o stopping twice. I usually try to make it 3 hours to Corsicana and then to right north of Huntsville where this little rest stop has always been. I completed this mission but the rest stop has changed since the last time I drove this way. It was back into the trees (the beautiful, tall, dense pine trees of this area) so you could not even see the highway. I pulled up and there was like a welcome center, a playground and super nice bathrooms. There was also a lake with benches around it. I almost wanted to hang out there for a while!

3. I am pretty sure I encountered a drunk driver on the road and was not sure what to do. At first I saw him in front of me swerving. I was coming up near him to pass so I sped by real fast to not be near him long, not thinking to take down his license plate number, just wanting to get away. Then he must have sped up because I had to go about 80 to stay in front of him. At one point I was so focused on him that I sped up, changed lanes and then slowed down in front of an 18-wheeler who flashed his brights at me. Oops! I kept an eye on the guy as he kept swerving and then passed me. Not too much later, still in my sight, he pulled off the side of the road and I did not see him again. What are you supposed to do in that situation? Not long after I saw a sign saying how many drunk driving accidents had happened in that area and it said to call 911 to report them. Next time I will know.

4. Another strange church name I encountered was "The Ark." At first I thought, oh that's nice a place where God saves people. But then I thought more about it and realized the Ark was a place God saved while the rest of the world was destroyed. Is that what we want people thinking the church is? A way to get away from the world that is going down the drain? Not me!

All that is probably pretty boring but it all seemed interesting and exciting on such a boring drive. Now I am looking forward to a fun, relaxing weekend with my family. Yea!

Shacking Up

Haha I thought that title was funny. Really I just mean that I have been reading The Shack. I know some of you are shocked because of my dislike for what I call "God books" but I read this one so I could participate in a book/tea night with ladies from church. The night was worth it and the book was not all bad either.

I will not say I agreed with everything the book said about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and their relationship with humans, but it did make me think. It put some new ideas in my head about God's character, Jesus' humanness, and the Holy Spirit's presence, and I am always up for new ideas. Some of them may be way off but they are just some thoughts of one guy that he put into a story for his family that got turned into a book. I will not say you HAVE to read it, your life will be fine without it, but if you have have a little time it is worth the read.

Along with discussing The Shack I got to enjoy some delicious hot tea, and last week I got to have tea with a wonderful friend and now I am ready for tea weather! For some reason I don't have a problem drinking coffee in the summer (only in the mornings or evenings) but tea for me just needs to be a winter thing.

I have such fond memories of walking home from work in the cold Colorado winter and drinking some hot tea with my roomies and chatting about our days. That is where I learned to LOVE hot tea. I need something to warm me inside and out and tea (with lots of honey) fit perfectly. Then I came to Abilene and found new tea lovers. I have other great memories of having tea in the evenings with Lauren or just having friends over to have tea and chat. Something about hot tea, snuggly winter clothes and a good friend makes for the perfect moment. Now I just need it to get cold.

In the past I have never been one to want winter to come but I think because my past 2 winters have been spent in CO, where it is already cooler, the leaves are changing and it could snow any day, I am waiting for the cool and it has not come yet. I forgot Abilene lacks the fall season. I have been enjoying the cool evenings and mornings though. They make for perfect walks and gazing at the stars.

But I am ready. I'm ready to drink tea. I'm ready to wear my fleeces. I'm ready to need house shoes. I'm ready to smell pure cold air. I'm ready to cook soup and not get hot from eating it. I'm ready to see my breath in the air. I'm ready for cool weather!

Love/Hate Relationship

Most days I love where I live. I love my roomies, I love our house and I love my room. Not this week. Everyday this week there has been a roach sighting somewhere in the house. They seem to have infiltrated every room. I thought my room might have been safe but I was wrong.

I was planning on sleeping till about 9am this morning. I woke up around 8am needing to go potty. I did, came back, looked above my bed and saw a brown blob on the wall (did not have my glasses on). I grabbed my glasses and my fears were confirmed. A roach! In my room! Watching me sleep!!!!!!! I felt a little sick.

Its position could not be worse. Right above my bed so that if I could ever get the courage to hit it, it would fall onto my resting place and taint it forever. So I quickly pulled the covers up over the bed so it could not get inside. It also is at the top of the wall near the ceiling. I do not think roaches could be very smart but they must know that that position is difficult to hit them. One missed moved and you hit the ceiling and not them and they go flying across the room or onto me or my bed. Bad move.

So what am I doing now? I'm sitting at my desk watching it. Making sure it does not go anywhere and trying to decide what to do since he has not moved in 20 min. What do I do?!?! I have such an irrational fear of these stupid things. I tell myself they will not hurt me but the thought of one touching me or my bed makes me feel a little sick. I cant take this much longer.

We all seriously are starting to live in a slight fear of a roach around every corner, in every drawer. Our landlord said to bug bomb them. That sounds real healthy huh? I guess I should try to do something. Maybe I can cover myself and my bed and then go after him....maybe....

Nature Girl

I said in my last blog I would let you know how the driving thing went. Well it was long and boring and lonely but I got to drive a couple of cool people and got paid so I am very thankful. Not much interesting to share there.

This morning was a different morning for me. My roommate had their mentoring group over at 7:30am so I needed to not be here. So after getting ready I headed to the local coffee shop with my other roomie. We had fun not doing what we were supposed to be doing and enjoying some ok coffee.

After that I headed to my appointment with my tailor. What am I doing going to a tailor? Well I am in a wedding in DC in January and I needed my dress altered. So I headed to her house and it was quick and painless. So quick that I had some time to kill before I could go back home.

I was near my favorite park so I decided to stop there for a bit and enjoy the cool morning. I sat down by the lake and had some time of stillness and quiet. The sun was rising and the ducks were quacking and it was beautiful. The breeze was blowing on my face and I felt peace. I felt like I could have stayed there all day. Unfortunately I had coffee that morning and really needed to potty so my time was cut short. Leave it to my tiny bladder to ruin the moment.

Why am I sharing this? Well my quiet time with God sucks, and is almost non-existent. I pray throughout the day but rarely do I sit down intentionally and spend time with God in quiet, prayer or study. I hate this about my life. I KNOW that I need this time and that God desires it for me also but for some reason I have this block that keeps me from it. I have been working against this block for probably a year now and nothing has worked. I see my roommates having their quiet time and it makes me wonder what is wrong with me.

Well now I have a new thing to try that I do not know why it has not occurred to me before. Nature! I find God in nature so easily. I see him every day in the trees, in the wind, in the cool night air, in the stars I see as I ride my bike home at night. Everywhere! So as I sat outside this morning quite time came so easily to me. Not that it is not possible to have quiet time inside and maybe that will come with time, but it just makes sense to me to spend time with God outside instead of stuck inside where I am all the time anyways.

I should have known this about myself especially after living in Colorado. My dry spell runs all the way back into my time in CO but I remember very specific times where I was out hiking or sitting my the river that I felt the most comfortable being quiet with God. Just because I am in ugly Abilene does not mean I cannot do the same thing. There is beauty and nature here, its just a bit different.

So my new plan of action is to start out with a goal of going to be outside with God once a week. Running does not count. I need to go somewhere that I can be away from people and technology and business and just be in nature where I find God the easiest. Maybe from this I will feel a desire to spend more time and I can move it to a daily routine (man I hate that word) but we will see. Baby steps Dee!

Typically I try to stay away from sharing too much personal, emotional or spiritual info on here because that is private. I would LOVE to talk to anyone about this stuff in person but not on a blog. But today I felt the need to share my experience so sorry if it was too much.

Driving Miss Daisy

Lectureship (aka Summit) is happening here at ACU next week and I have taken on a little job. I am going to be a driver of vans to pick people up who are in town with no cars. They will call in, I will get radioed and then go get them wherever they are. Then I get to take them home at night. I have been told most of them will be speakers (maybe even Brian McLaren). Sounds pretty fun to me! I love meeting new people.

To be "qualified" to drive I had to watch a little safety video about what not to do. The main idea was be careful and to watch out when backing up. I am now "qualified" but I failed to mention my past van driving adventures. Lets take a walk down memory lane.

All of these occurred during my time as an intern in Colorado. All of them occurred in the same van. I'm surprised it is still running.

First incident, driving on the highway with 2 kids in the van. I had not been there long and was still very mesmerized by the mountains. I could not stop looking as I drove, but I came close to the edge of the road and had to swerve pretty fast to avoid going off. Ooops!!

Second incident, I was in the church parking lot backing the van out of its spot...and talking on the phone with my mom. Bad idea. I backed up w/o paying attention and heard "crunch" and then "bang." I told my mom I had to go and just hung up. I sat there until the land lady came out to check on me because she heard what happened. I knocked over the light pole. I cried because I felt bad but she said it happens about every year so it wasn't a big deal. The rest of the summer the preacher called me Smash.

Third incident, I was taking some girls camping. We decided to take the van because my car was pretty small with 3 of us and all our stuff. We loaded up the van, and ran some errands before heading to Rocky Mt. We were about to take off and one of the girls mentioned smelling something funny. Luckily we remembered something we forgot so we headed back to the church. We pulled up and the other intern ran out and started yelling for us to get out of the van. It was smoking!!!!

Turned out I had been driving with the parking break on for about 30 min. Another oops moment! In my defense 1. the break light did not work so I had no indication it was still on, 2. I grew up in Texas and had never used a parking break before so I did not know to even look for something like that. Needless to say, we crammed in my car and had a great camping trip. They changed the break pads just to be safe, but everything seemed ok.

All this to say I do not have the best luck with 15 passenger vans. I am hoping for some luck while driving Lectureship speakers around. Should be an adventure. I will update after its over.

Oh the news

These are some snippets from funny news stories I have read lately. I am not a news watcher but I do like to stay up on big US events and especially International news. These are of no big importance, they just made me laugh and the news can always use some laughter.

1. Uganda Seeking to Ban Miniskirts- The dude wanting this to happen says that it is like women are walking around naked. And what happens when you are driving and see a "naked" person, car accidents of course! Can you imagine trying to pass this here in the US?

2. Beer Belly/Wine Bra- Not sure why these are all about clothing but this one is crazy! They are making beer bellies that a man can wear on his belly and it holds beer and has a long straw like a camelbak. And for the woman? A wine bra! I wonder if they make Dr. Pepper bras...

3. 86 Wives- Ok so maybe this is not something to joke about but 86 wives? Seriously? A Muslim man was arrested in Nigeria for having 86 wives...the limit is 4. Ha! I know it must be a cultural and power thing, but what man would want more than one wife? Women are crazy! The limit is 4, that's funny. And does he really need to be punished? 86 wives seems like enough punishment to me. I sure wouldn't want 86 husbands.

4. Longest Legs vs. Smallest Man- This is great! I guess the Guinness Book of World Records just came out with a new book and to promote it they got this odd couple together. The woman's legs are 4'4" long and the man is 2'5" tall. She makes me feel not so tall.

There is some strange stuff out there!!! :)

I Tried

I tried to not look at the pictures of Hurricane Ike but I could not help myself. I get pretty freaked out by the hurricanes that come through the gulf and rightly so. My city and pretty badly damaged. I cannot even imagine what a Cat 3,4, or 5 would look like.

I did not want to look because I knew it would just make me sad and it would not help anything but some of the images are just amazing. Not amazing in a good way, amazing in how much damage occurred. Obviously I am very very sad by the pictures of peoples homes being ripped apart or under water, but the ones that get me are seeing the places I know and have been.

Seeing I-45 covered in debris, boats and water. Seeing the sky scraper windows in downtown Houston shattered and glass all over the streets. Seeing the sea wall in Galveston littered with parts of buildings and peoples homes, knowing that the piers over the water must be gone. And seeing part of the roof ripped off of Relient Stadium (selfishly wondering if we will still get to go to the game in December when I should be thinking about the poor people without homes now).

I must say despite all the awful damage and how some places may never be the same, personally I am thankful. My parents are fine, our house is fine and so far that goes for all our friends and family. My parents walked around our neighborhood and realized how blessed they were that out of the 60+ trees that are ripped out of the ground or snapped at the truck, none of them fell on our house. And thankfully the death toll is supposed to be low everywhere because of the great job the cities did of evacuating. We did learn some things from Katrina and Rita.

I told my mom that I do not know if God keeps trees from falling on houses but I prayed (and so did they) so I give my thanks to God. Now everyone just has to figure out what to do with their time (and for food) for the next week with no electricity or jobs to go to.

So I tried to not look at the pictures and I will try to not look anymore because it just upsets me, but please remember Houston and the Gulf Coast as they rescue those who stayed and try to rebuild their lives.

Beach homes

Downtown Houston building

I-45

Relient Stadium where the Texans play

Sea wall at Galveston

Thankful Thursday

Three things I am thankful for tonight:

1. I am thankful to be in a town and involved with a community with such amazing people. Today was a very peopley day and I loved it. No where else but in college can you have so many people in or around the same place in life as you living in such close proximity with the time to spend with each other. It is just so amazing!

2. I am thankful for friends being concerned about my friends and family who are about to be hit by the hurricane. I have not been in a hurricane since I was like 3 but they really kinda freak me out. The fear may be somewhat irrational and it is spurred on by me watching the Weather Channel too much, but I am thankful people put up with me and check up on me knowing that I am worried but trying to hide it. They are just so destructive. I cannot even imagine the chaos in Cuba right now.

3. I am thankful for my house. I have amazing, caring, fun, roommates and such a wonderful house. We have everything we need and so so much more. We have a place to sleep, eat, study, and laugh. We can be hospitable to our friends and provide a place to hangout and be in community. The house has its quirks but that makes life interesting.

I could not be more blessed right now. Sometimes it is easy to think about what I don't have or what could make life better, and I forget how amazing my life is and how much I need to be sharing with others because of that.

Tis' The Season

Football season is here and I am ready for it. Usually when the season ends I am ready to move on to something new but every September I have had a good break and am ready for it to start.

I still remember the first NFL game that I watched the entire thing. I cant tell you who played or who won but I was at my grandparents house and I was proud I made it through the whole game. I was pretty young, maybe 10 yrs old. I think I wanted to want to watch football because my brother and my dad liked it. So I guess I thought if I wanted to hang out with them I needed to be into football. My enjoyment grew over the years and now I am happy to even sit down and watch a game by myself, but company is always better.

Playing fantasy football has helped my enjoyment even more. This is my 5th year and it has helped me learn the players and pay attention to their abilities. Games are more fun to watch when you know who is playing and what their team is made up of. I will never know everyone (and dont want to because that would take up too much brain space) who plays but as long as I can keep up with what is important each season I am pretty happy. I play in a league with my brother and his friends and my favorite fantasy season was the year my parents had a team. My mom spent more time managing it than my dad did. She was so funny to hear her talking about her QB or WR or whatever. It helped her be more involved in the mania that is football season. Its fun to, as a family, all be into the same thing.

We are an NFL family and our team is the Houston Texans. Dont laugh! I know they are not awesome but we are not bandwagon jumpers. We have been fans since the beginning and always will be. But you better watch out, it may be a while till we make it to the playoffs with the Colts in our division, but we had a 8-8 season last year. I would rather people think we are bad so eventually we can surprise them! My dad blesses our family with tickets to a game every year and we have so much fun. Even if someone doesnt like sports, GOING to a sporting event is entertaining enough with all the crazy fans and expensive food and funny things going on. I love it!

I am excited to be back in TX for the season because rarely did I get to see the Texans play in Denver. I enjoyed watching the Broncos and witnessing the Jay Cutler-Jake Plummer switch, but it just isnt the same. I never wavered in my Texans faith, but its easy to get caught up in the excitement of a city when you live there (especially when the Rockies made it to the WS).

Anyways, Im excited to get to watch some more Texans football but there is something different about being in TX. Seems like people are way more into college football here. I guess that is because of the 3 big schools here, but I have just never gotten into college ball. I tried my senior year because it is very fun to watch, but it is hard when you dont have a school you follow. I could just pick one but if I am not passionate about it I wont keep up with it. My mom went to A&M, dad UT, grandparents Tech, and brother OU...and I go to ACU. How am I supposed to choose?!?! So I just stay out of it. I feel almost wrong saying I am a UT fan when their fans are so intense that I do not even come close. I can enjoy watching games with others and will always go for at TX school (or OU) over another state but I cannot call myself a fan.

I also get so overwhelmed with how much there is to know about college ball. There are SOOO many teams and SOOO many players that change so often I cant keep up. Im happy if at the end of the season I know who the Heisman candidates are. Also, the rules are slightly different than NFL so I get confused. But football is football and I enjoy it all!

I hope I can enjoy futbol as much as I do football. I try now but I have a lot to learn.

Busy As Bees

It is the second week of school and I am already tired. Tired from lack of sleep (my social life's fault, not school) but also tired of business. My summer was pretty chill and un-busy so I am trying to adjust back to a schedule and a busy life, but I dont like to be busy. I know "busy" is the common response to "how are you" (2nd most popular after "fine") but I dont want to be busy.

I enjoy having time to sit on my front porch and enjoy the cool night air, having lunch with a new friend or just spontaneously making cookies. All of which I have done in the last 2 days when I should have been doing "good student" things. Something has got to go!

Some of you probably think I am crazy because compared to most grad student schedules mine is calm but thats how I need it to be. I need to be able to veg some in the evenings. I desperately need to spend time with friends, to worship at church and to be silly with roommates. I do not want to be busy. I want to have a still morning of coffee, breakfast and peace. If these things are important to me I need to learn to manage my time better but this is not really a gift of mine.

I tend to let time get away from me instead of using it wisely. I like not worrying about time because I think sometimes we are too constrained by it (that is another blog) and forcing myself to be on time to meetings and class and jobs are enough. I want my non-timed time to be open but where is the balance! (not necessarily asking for an answer, just typing out loud)

I know some of my semester will be busy and that is just part of life but I am going to work hard to not be busy AND not worry about time AND fit in everything I need to get done. Ask me at the end of the semester how that one goes! Ha!

Thanks for reading, now it's TIME to read! :)

Bella

My Newest Favorite

I watched an amazing movie this past weekend. I had heard of it from some friends so when I saw it at the store I had to get it. The movie is called Bella and you can see the trailer for it above.

It is hard to describe why I loved it so much. It really moved me and I am so glad I watched it alone because it made me cry a lot. It was beautifully filmed and much of it was spoken in a beautiful language. The characters were very flawed and normal and the movie made you love them and feel their pain. There is nothing flashy or thrilling about it, just very honest and beautiful. Like I said, hard to describe. But I would recommend it to anyone.

On another note, school has started again and I am getting back into the swing of things. I really like my classes and I am excited about them. I hope to learn and push myself a lot this semester. I am also enjoying meeting new people and reuniting with old ones. Our team is also having our first meeting since about April tonight and I cant wait. We had a great summer of hanging out but I am ready to do something. Hopefully we can set the date for our survey trip tonight!!

Thats all for now!!! :)

Super-D-Dooper Day

So I just had a wonderful day today. Nothing huge happened and most of it may not seem too exciting but it was and all of it together made for a great Wednesday. School started on Monday and I had 2 classes then that I think will be great. Today I woke up for my 8am class and enjoyed taking my time to get ready and drink some coffee and made it to class. I think it is going to be my favorite class. The people are great and so is the teacher and I am excited to learn from them all. The books sound super interesting and really helpful for missions. We are also doing these debates which I hate arguing but the topics are pretty hot topics in missions and I think I will learn a lot from them.

After class I went to chapel and it was great to be back there. I headed home for lunch and spent the afternoon doing some internet stuff (we have internet, yea!) and reading for my class that is not until Monday. Yes ladies and gents I did something ahead of time AND in the afternoon. I am going to try really hard this semester to use my free afternoons to study instead of farting around so that I can have my evenings to spend with people. Today was a test and I passed!

Later my roomie came home and we went to Wed. night church at Hope. I cannot tell you the last time I went to Wed. night church. I debated staying home but thought it would be good for me. I have been questioning whether I should stick with Hope or not but then I had a very encouraging Sunday and wanted to see the people who encouraged me again. And I did! The service was fun and different. We had a mixer type activity which seems totally high school but I am just itching to get to know people so it was great to talk and share about ourselves. What was even greater was that the preacher said this is what church should be more like and I totally agree! I love when churches have the courage to try new things. Sometimes they don't work but we get so stuck in the same mold and anything that can help is super. I am also really excited about some new friends I am making!

After church me and roomie and friend walked to the grocery store (I LOVE being able to walk to the store) and got some rationings to make hummus! I LOVE HUMMUS! While at the store a miracle happened. A little back story might help.

I went to the store yesterday and got some yogurt. I got the big thing of yogurt and it was plain non-fat. I have been trying different types and thought this one sounded like it might be good with blueberries or something. WRONG! I tried it today and it tasted gross! I guess I need some of that sugar that comes along with the vanilla flavor.

To add to the story, (for you Abilenites you will know what I am talking about so forgive my description) our grocery store is playing this scratch off game that you can win prizes if you scratch of 3 of the same picture. I won once but it was for something I didn't like. Most people don't like to scratch it off but I enjoy it. All my roommates give me theirs and I never win but I still get a tiny thrill. Usually the prize is just $1.00 which is silly because you have to send it in so you really only get like $.68 cents or something. But tonight was different.

I got the scratch off and as usual I scratched off the prize first to see what was as stake. You will not believe what it was. YOGURT! And not just any yogurt but low-fat vanilla. Mmmmmmmm! The pressure was on. Even the check out lady was nervous for me. I scratched one off, took my time and scratched the second and then the third and I WON!!!! I was so excited! So I ran (literally) to the back of the store and got my prize. FOR FREE! How great is that.

After this triumph we walked back home, made delicious hummus and watched a super funny/cute/strange movie. It was called Lars and the Real Girl . Thanks to Kelli for the movie (she shared her Netflix, isn't that nice!). So a group of us enjoyed the wonderful movie while we could not keep from mmmm-ing over the hummus and hummus accessories.

Is that a great day or what!!!

Oh yea and Wes came back from Africa. Hooray! Cant wait to hang out with everyone this weekend.

Duuun Duuuun Da Dun Dun Dun Dun...

Recognize that theme song? Do you have it stuck in your head like I do? I guess it is hard to recognize through "Dun Dun's" but I know you know it. The Olympic theme song!

My name is Deanna and I am an Olympic addict.

I really am and I am loving it! I do not remember the last time I watched this much TV and it usually not what I want to do every night of the week but I just can't resist. I love gymnastics and swimming and diving and track and field and all of it! My only regret is that I do not have cable to watch all the less popular sports. I really was bummed that I did not get to see fencing or soccer.

Here are my top 5 favorite moments of the Olympics so far:

1. Shelly-Ann Fraser from Jamica winning the womens 100 meter sprint

2. Nastia Liukin winning the womens all-around in gymnastics

3. Men's 400 meter freestyle relay

4. Cesar Cielo Filho from Brazil winning the 50 meter freestyle

5. Misty-May Treanor and Kerri Walsh winning their 2nd gold medal in womens volleyball

Just Like in the Movies

As you may know, I have moved into a new house with some new roommates. Our house is little and cute but it has lots of character. Things are slowly finding their place and it is starting to look a little more settled. The biggest problems we have had were some bugs and roaches which I thought was awful but little did I know it would get worse.

It all started about a month ago when one night I was in the house alone and I heard some scratching around in the kitchen. I walked towards the kitchen and froze when I realized what the sound was. A mouse! I freaked out for a bit and went outside to gather my courage. "A mouse can't hurt me," I told myself. I got ready for bed when K1 (roommates will be referred to as K1, K2, and O, if you know who they are that's fine if not you don't need to know anyways) came home and said she had heard it too. That night I slept with a towel stuffed under my door.

I did a little research on mouse traps but never really got around to it since I left for about 10 days. When I came back I saw no evidence and heard no noise from a mouse. "It must have left," I thought. K2 moved into the house and brought with her a cat that I deeply hoped would help control the bugs and possible returning mice. She has done a little roach hunting but they always scurry under the oven, washer or dryer, out of reach. Keep trying kitty!

So last night K2 and I watched the Olympics and were getting ready for bed. She was keeping an eye on her cat who seemed very interested in what was going on under the wire cabinet in our dining room. Ever since she had seen the roach she had been keeping an eye on the oven, washer, dryer area of the kitchen but had never really caught anything and we thought maybe she was just pretending to make us think she was a hunter. But, we watched her for a bit as she tried many different ways to get back there, but failed. With K2 standing in the doorway to the kitchen at my left and the cat in front of me I lifted the cloth covering on the cabinets and out scurried a large mouse!

K2 and I screamed, which scared the cat, and I ran into my bedroom while K2 fell on the floor in the commotion of the mouse and cat. (yes I left her there to be attacked by the mouse) Eventually K2 made it to my room where we gained our composure. She had not seen where the mouse ran but knew it went into the kitchen either into her room or under the appliances. So quite jumpy we stepped back into the room and stood on chairs (yes, like in the movies) and laughed/screamed while we scanned the floor for the mouse.

The cat continued to be very interested in what was under the cabinets so after a while (still standing on chairs) we pulled everything off to look underneath to find nothing. The mouse was somewhere in the kitchen/bedroom area. We looked under everything in the kitchen and saw nothing. We looked in K2's room but it was covered in boxes from just moving in. She decided it was hopeless and we went to bed (me with a towel stuffed under my door). So far there has been no other mouse sighting.

So where did the mouse go? Well I neglected to mention the mouse size hole in the wall behind our washer that goes OUTSIDE! I am serious. I was walking by it the other day and saw some light from behind the washer. I got my flashlight and looked (hoping it was a mirror or something else reflecting inside light) and yup, a hole leading to outside. K2 and I checked where it came out on the other side but we could not see it without laying in the mud. You will be happy to hear our landlord is coming by tomorrow to take care of this and a couple of other new house problems.

But who can blame the mouse (or mice) and bugs and roaches for coming inside. We practically have a door for them that says "Come On In-Everyone Welcome!" All that is missing is a door mat to wipe their feet on!

Let this be a lesson to all. REALLY examine your house before you move into it. Just because it is cute and not too expensive and looks nice does not mean it is nice. I really do like the house though and hopefully our problems will be solved after covering the hole. If not I may be looking for some good friends to help me set mouse traps. Ahhh!

The big SA!

So if you cant tell by now, I love South America (SA). It is a beautiful continent with beautiful people and some of the most amazing things to do and see ever. From my time there the following are my favorite places in no particular order. (ps-I have pictures of these places but most are before my days of digital so they are not great quality)

1. Iguazu Falls: These are the second largest waterfalls in the world (next to Victoria) and is one of the most impressive things I have ever seen. The falls are on the boarders of Argentina and Brazil and cover an immense amount of area with 275 – 350 separate falls. It takes days to see all of it. The biggest fall is called Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat) and it is outrageously huge!

2. Patagonia: This is an area of land at the southern end of South America and it reaches through Argentina and Chile. Much of the land is flat plains but it contains the Andes mountains and the largest ice fields and glaciers in the Southern hemisphere (besides Antarctica). I visited the Argentine side of Patagonia and it is filled with amazing sites like glaciers and ice burgs and huge mountains. My favorite site was the Perito Moreno Glacier (see photo). It is huge and the pieces that fall into the water are amazing. I got to hike on it using crampons which was one of the coolest things I have ever done!
3. Buenos Aires, Argentina: This is my most favorite city in the whole world. I love the people and the food and the ginormousness of the city of 13 million people. I loved learning my way around but still getting lost, using public transportation and the adventure of every day. I LOVE the Spanish they speak (Castellano) energy of a city that never sleeps. I hope to go back some day.

4. La Paz, Bolivia: I visited La Paz on a trip to decide where to move to do mission work. It was the top city on my list and even though I am not going to live there I still loved it and was fascinated. It is located high in the Andes mountains at about 12,000 feet and I think it is the highest capitol city in the world. It is located in a valley with building and houses built into the mountain sides. It has some of the steepest streets I have ever seen. Interestingly the higher in altitude you go the poorer the people get which is somewhat opposite of the US where If you are rich you live in the mountains. The people look very indigenous (hope that's not racist to say) because the Indian population continue to move into the city to live.

5. Tierra del Fuego: Land of Fire, also known as the end of the world. This area lies at the very end of SA below the Strait of Magellan. I visited the city of Ushuaia and it was a gorgeous little town squeezed right in between the mountains and the ocean. The buildings were painted brightly and stood out against the dark mountain slopes. It had a few quaint little restaurants and coffee shops to hang out in and many outdoor adventures to go on and get into trouble...which I did!

Now I have seen a lot of SA but there is so so so much more to see. I am sure there are places I do not even know of yet that I want to visit. But from what I do know the following are my top 5 places I want to visit.

1. Machu Picchu: I am always amazed at how few people know of this places when it really is top on my list in the entire world. It is an old Incan civilization tucked into the clouds of the Andes mountains of Peru. It was built around 1450 and not discovered again until 1911. I like to imagine how that explorer felt the first time he saw this site knowing what an amazing treasure he had found.

2. Angel Falls: Sometimes I forget about Angel Falls, but it is located in Venezuela and it is the worlds tallest free falling waterfall at 2421 feet. That's about all I know but I'm convinced. Who wants to go?

3. Amazon River: Another water adventure would be to see or even float the Amazon River through Brazil. It is the largest river in the world by volume and it is never crossed by bridges because most of the flows through the Amazon Rain forest. (this way I get to see the Amazon River and Rain forest and kill 2 birds with one stone) It has over 3,000 species including a river dolphin, piranhas, and anacondas- scary stuff!

4. Rio de Janeiro: Rio would be an amazing city to visit. It is ginormous also and has so many things to see and do including crazy Carnival, the giant Jesus statue, Copacabana beach, awesome music and food, and some of the best soccer players ever. It is also a very poor city with many areas called Favelas (shanty towns) where the poorest of the poor lived and are shunned.

5. Torres del Paine: This is my newest interest (see the picture at the top of my blog) because it is in Chile! (Hooray) This is a range of mountains and some of the are so pointy and radical they are amazing. They were formed by glacial ice which just baffles me to think about their formation and how long it must have taken. I doubt my rock climbing abilities would let me climb to the top of some of these peaks but man I would love to see them. Also, this is located in Patagonia also so this would be another 2 bird killing!

If you actually made it to the bottom of this blog, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed the pictures. They are my favorite part! Isn't SA beautiful and amazing and huge! I hope you will visit me and we can go somewhere awesome together!