College Station Part 1

Our team spent our first weekend in College Station this past weekend. If you don't know, we are Team 3 for their church and we are very excited to be a part of what they are doing in missions. They are going to support our team for the year of 2010. We will not be in Chile until 2011 but they are going to support us during our training to give us time to fund raise, train, continue to deepen team relationships and visit family. It will be a much easier year to do all that and not have to have a job on top of it. You can see our info page on their website.

We arrived Saturday afternoon after a nice drive together and a delicious lunch at Storms in Hamilton, TX. It was a beautiful day and we had a relaxing afternoon with the girls driving around the town a bit and having coffee at a local coffee shop. I had my first experience driving with a GPS thingy. When they create one that talks back when I ask questions then I will buy one.

Silly girls all wore the same thing- they said it was not planned

That evening we had a yummy dinner with Kelly and amazing ice cream back at his house with is wife Sara. Who can resist Blue Bell's new flavor! I just love it so much. Kelly and Sara were great hosts and we loved talking with them. They have so much wisdom concerning and missions from personal experience and from their son being on the field now. Our team felt blessed by the time we got to spend with them. It was also an exciting evening because A&M beat Tech in Lubbock that night. I am not a huge fan but being in that town it is hard not to be excited.

Sunday morning we were asked to teach class. They split the 7 of us up between 2 adult classes. We were able to share more about our team with church members and I think it went really well despite my fear of public speaking. It has been a while since I have been involved in all the craziness that happens on a Sunday morning in a large church. It was a lot of fun and we got to meet a lot of great people who were very encouraging.

Sad I did not match the other girls

During church service they had Reid get up and talk about us a bit and then showed our video made by Donald. I will have to put that video on here sometime. Donald did a great job but there is just something uncomfortable about seeing your face on 2 huge screens. I don't know how movie people stand it. Then they had us on stage and the elders prayed over us.

Group pic with Kelly and Sara

After church we were treated to a BBQ fund raising lunch with the BBQ smoked by the preacher himself. I got to talk to even more people and I loved it. I love meeting new people and hearing about their lives and sharing with them about my team and I.

The weekend was such a blessing to our team and we are excited to go back next weekend for Missions Sunday. We get to hang out with AFC and go to a football game with t-shirts and everything. I have wanted to go to an A&M football game for a long time, so I am pumped!

Thanks for a great weekend A&M!!

Ride in the Rain

I had a nice bike ride through the rain today. It was not exactly on purpose but it was kind of enjoyable in an unexpected way. I was not aware how hard it was raining when I went out and by the time I got home I was dripping wet. It was a good test for my rain jacket though because everything under it was quite dry.

As I headed home I could not help but laugh at how soaked I was and how ridiculous I probably looked. Typically I would have avoided puddles but I just plowed through them and kept on laughing. Typically I would have hated getting my clothes soaked and having to change but I just embraced it and laughed.

My pants were so wet when I got home that they were having a hard time staying up. Dripping, I ran through the house and got all dried off. There is not much that feels better than getting warm and dry after being cold and wet. Mmmmm!

The one annoying part of the experience was the drivers. I don't know if they were not aware or did not care, both of which are not good options. I was waiting in the pouring rain to cross the street at a crosswalk and probably 10 cars drove by spraying me without letting me cross. Know who stopped for me? A police car. Come on people! I know being a biker is different than being a walker but I was on the side walk crossing to another side walk in the pouring rain.

But its ok. I forgive them because I got to go for a bike ride in the rain and they were stuck dry in their cars not having near as much fun as I was.

School Spirit

It is homecoming around here at ACU and I am reminded that I have very little school spirit. I have had a good education and made some good friends but have no real allegiance to the school. Yet, this morning I found myself at the homecoming parade. Who doesn't like a "good" (or quirky) parade right?

Anxiously waiting for the parade to start

This was my first year to go and I had some good laughs. I mainly went to support some friends that were in it or who had helped with it but I kind of enjoyed it. It was a beautiful morning and I got to sit around with some friends and laugh at people and it was ok. Some floats had funny costumes, some had good dancing, some were unclear what they were, some were a bit racist, and some were uncomfortable just to be there. Oh ACU, you make me proud!

Penny and Lyuda representing China and Ukraine

The "highlight" of the parade was the free candy and a free highlighter that has 5 different colors on it. Some cute old people were throwing them from their float to advertise the local assisted living. The phrase on it says "The highlight of your retirement!" HA! So clever! :) I am excited to read and highlight this week.

Official parade watchers

Despite the parade's quirkyness I had a lovely morning with my friends. Who wants a normal parade with Shiners and twirlers anyways!

Getting Better

If you have been a reader for a while you might remember a post called Not a Fix-it kinda girl . I tried and failed at fixing a few things around the house and had a pretty good laugh while doing it. I also learned some valuable lessons.

Well tonight I tried my hand at plumbing once again (I know, I'm living the high life, plumbing on a Friday night. It's ok to admit it. You wish you were me.)and this time I was successful! Hooray! Our bathroom sink was just not draining and I could not take it any longer. I am too cheap to buy drain-o and too proud to call the landlord so I attempted to clean out the u-shaped pipe. It was quite full and gross.

I tried the water (with a cup under the open pipe, thank you very much) and it was still not draining. Boo. So I got my trusty pliers and started messing around with the drain thingy up top. I got it all cleaned up (as best as you can in an old house lived in by who knows how many people- I try to not think about things like that) and was able to see some progress in how quickly the water went down.

The sink may not be 100% but at least it is draining much better. All in a hard days work. :)

You have to be an amazing person to be a plumber. I think I will stick to baking and reading.

Where the Wild Things Are

This movie looks amazing. I cannot wait to see it!

Overall Good Wedding

If you get the title of the post you should know it is not original. If you do not get it, don't worry about it.

Two of our mission teammates got married this past weekend. Woo Hoo! It was a BEAUTIFUL wedding and I had a lot of fun and am so excited for Reid and Mer. They are just so wonderful and I am blessed by their friendship. I am also quite jealous of their week in Mexico. We thought about joining them. :)

Sadly I did not take many pictures but this is Sara and I in the reception tent before the wedding

The wedding weekend was super fun and also quite chilly. I was very thankful for my long sleeved dress but could have used my heavy pea coat. It was a wonderful celebration with beautiful flowers, a beautiful cake, a very beautiful bride, yummy food, fun music and a sweet ceremony.

I am very thankful for the hospitality of the Brooks letting us stay in their home at eat their food. I also enjoyed the time with my team. We have been so busy that it was nice to have a weekend away together and we have a few more of those coming up so that will be great!

Our team stuff is coming along well. We have had some very intense and important meetings over the past few weeks that have led to some very exciting conversations about Chile and church and our future. As unknown as things are I really feel God guiding us and revealing things not as I want them to be revealed but according to His timing. Hopefully it is this way with fund raising for all of us as well.

In a week and a half we will be spending 2 weekends in a row in College Station with the A&M Church of Christ in preparation for them supporting us for a year of training next year. We are very excited to spend time with the people of that church. They are such a blessing to us and I cannot wait to get to know them better!

That's about all that is going on team-wise. We would appreciate your prayers for us and for Chile. If you know of any churches looking to support some missionaries let me know. Some of us are needing to search harder than others but we are all still in need.

Dee out.

30 ROCK IS BACK!!

Can't wait for Thursday night!

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Ewww but true

This is an anti-obesity advert, showing a soft drink being poured into a glass of human fat that I guess is going around NYC. Kinda funny...kinda gross...very true.

Blessed Day

I needed today. As you can see from Monday I am feeling a bit overwhelmed for the semester but I guess it is a day to day thing, or maybe just a Monday thing, because today has been wonderful. Today I:

• Started out the morning with class and we had such interesting discussion about slavery. I learned some things about American history I did not know and I learned a lot about American slavery I did not know. It really made me think about my views on God and scripture and the role of Christians when faced with overwhelming amounts of oppression (and our role when people are too blind to see it).

• Read scripture in chapel

• Enjoyed some not so healthy but free pizza with other grad students

• Had wonderful conversation with friends

• Made a new cookie recipe
  

• Read some of a very interesting book for class called Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes

• Did a little for curiosity's sake info finding about Greenland and Svalbard- what fascinating (cold) places to live!!!
  

• Had a fun and laughter filled evening with church friends- I become more and more thankful for them and more and more blessed every time we hang out

• Ate my yummy cookies and had some amazing Rwandan tea (the cookie recipe needs some work but nothing that a little experimenting cant help)

• Worked on my knitting
  

Thank you Lord for this encouraging, energizing, uplifting day.

Countdown Needed

I like to think of myself as an optimist. I like to enjoy each day and find the blessings in whatever I am doing, fun or not. Having said that, I also am quite tired and see no end in sight until December 11th, the last day of finals week. My countdown has begun. 66 days!

Yet, despite this tiredness I am still loving my classes and what I am learning. I really am so blessed to get to study what I do and even more to be around the people I am around. They all are so wonderful and have such amazing minds. My favorite part of grad school is definitely class when I get to be social in my studies and learn from my classmates and teachers instead of from books and my own boring thoughts.

If only we could have class outside every day and incorporate it with exercise so we are in class but walking around or swimming or doing yoga or something. Wouldn't that be awesome! Haha, that is a funny sight.

Rio Rio Rio Rio!

I was excited today to find out that the 2016 Olympic games will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This will be the first time a South American country has hosted the Olympics. That is a big deal, especially for Brazil. I just love the Olympics AND Brazil is a spicy, lively country that will be great for such a big event.

I am excited because most likely I will be in South America when this happens and that will be super fun. I mean I guess they are held in the US sometimes and it is not "super fun" being in the US when they are held super far away but there is something exciting about them being in SA while I am in SA.

Look how excited they are! Don't you just want to hang out with them.

I have to say though that as excited as I am for Brazil, looking at the faces of the people who lost made me sad. They look so disappointed! I wanted Brazil to win but as usual, even when the team (or whatever) I want to win does I usually feel bad for the losers.

I remember even as a kid, when the Rockets won the NBA Playoffs...I admit, I felt a little sorry the Orlando Magic. They worked really hard! I guess this is usually associated with sports because I always feel sorry for the losers at the Olympics too even if who I wanted to win won!

There are other strange ways this unnecessary compassion plays out in my life like feeling sorry for inanimate objects that get left out. This could come in the form of a plate that never gets used because it sits on the bottom of the stack and does not get to fulfill its destiny as a plate, or a pair of jeans I do not like as much as my others so most of the time they stay in my closet, abandoned. I never know when it is going to happen so watch out, you might be next.

This sounds super weird and I did not mean for this post to head in this direction. I am going to stop now.

Poor Tokyo

Poor Madrid

Thankful Thursday

I don't always blog about Thankful Thursday but today I am feeling it! I am thankful for:

• Thursday nights with good friends, yummy food and funny TV
• My friend's parents in American Samoa that are ok
• People who know a lot about computers that are willing to help computer dummies like me
• Catching up with friends, new and old
  
• Getting my first paycheck in a while
• OCTOBER
• The accomplishment I see from cleaning houses as compared to all the other things I do
  
• Weekends to get caught up and to relax
• Baseball hats for mornings I need to sleep in
• The smell that fills my house when I and my roommates bake
• Laughter
• Poppy seeds
• All the different people in this world. Life would be boring without ya!
• The great resources that accompany being in grad school
• The chance to run, even if just for a little bit
• Sunrises, sunsets and clear nights to see the moon
• Co-ed...I mean..."family" church camping trips
  

I am thankful for today!