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!

Whats Up?

Well I am back from Waltonia and had a great time as always. Today I just dont feel like going into detail about the week but it was an awesome trip. So whats up now? Well it is 3 weeks till school starts and I am half looking forward to that and half not. I have had an awesome summer and I dont want it to end. I love summer time and everything that comes with it. But I am excited to see everyone and meet new students and learn in my new classes so I will keep a positive outlook and remember that I put myself here and I need to make the best of it. So yea for Fall 2008!

A couple things that are on my mind. First, the Olympics start Friday! Hooray! I love the Olympics. I even went and bought an antenna for our non-cable TV so I could watch. Turns out we are getting channels from somewhere so lets hope that lasts. I am most excited about gymnastics. I hated doing gymnastics as a kid, being the giant that I am I never would have gone far anyways, but I love to watch the little girls bounce all over the place and the super muscular dudes do unthinkable things with their arms and legs. I also really enjoy swimming, diving and track and field. I pretty much love all of it.

Some of my favorite things are the underdog countries that do awesome or the few Middle Eastern countries that get to participate for the first time. I feel like the Olympics are a time when the world can unite instead of fight and cheer for their athletes. I just wish we could do it peacefully. I hope nothing bad happens in China. I know they do some awful things, but lets face it, so does our country so cant we just be nice and get along. They are beautiful people with a beautiful culture and they deserve our respect. So anyone reading this blog thinking about doing something stupid, please dont! (Ha, like any terrorist reads my blog).

I also wanted to mention something you made have heard in passing but it has stuck with me because of my current reading materials. The second highest mountain in the world is called K2 and just a couple of days ago 11 people died on the mountain during a summit attempt. The statistics say that it is the deadliest mountain in the world and 70 climbers have died climbing while only 280 have ever made it to the top and back down. The climbers who died were from many different countries. It seems they summited very late in the day and then an avalanche took out their fixed ropes and they were stuck and died. A few from the day's climb survived. This is so sad and I am so sorry for the friends and family of the deceased climbers.

Why is this on my mind? Well recently I read Into Thin Air (see previous post) and then just a couple of days ago I read No Shortcuts to the Top by Ed Viesturs who climbed the worlds 14 highest mountains. Adventure climbing is my new thing. Not that I am necessarily going to do it myself because that requires money, but I am super interested in it. Viesturs book was fascinating and I hope to keep following his adventures.

Besides that, I am moved into my new house and this weekend my parents are bringing the rest of the furniture which they will be thrilled to get out of their garage. Tonight is a going away party for a good friend and I am bummed to see her go. We will miss you Meriden! I am still working out at the YMCA but because of my recent read I am going to hopefully, slowly get back into running (knees allowing). I am excited!

Talk to yall later. Toodles! :)