LOST - Answers?! Song

I know I'm a total loser for liking this video but I do and I'm proud of it!

Thrilled Thursday

I have had a cold all this week and it has kind of put a damper on the things I wanted to do and enjoy. All I have felt like doing has been laying around the house. I have forced myself out some but not in my usual joyful manner. And as thankful as I am that I do have the ability to stay at home and work when I don't feel like getting off the couch, I am very ready to get off the couch.

I have numerous things that I am excited about that are coming up in the next week so this is my looking forward to better things blog. I am excited about:

• going to yoga today- it feels so good and I meet interesting people in my class

• weather that makes it feel like it actually is January

• Friday night out with the team- we are celebrating big time!

• Saturday time with El

• An open Saturday looking to be filled with fun times

• possibly going to a Capoeira class on Sunday if I can get up the guts

• coffee time with church people

• church time with team

• LOST premiering on Tuesday

Well that is about all the excitement I can handle in 5 days so I better slow things down a bit. Haha! I hope anyone reading has a wonderful weekend!

Bailando y Amigos

I had a super fun Friday night this past weekend. My friend Jeremy had a bunch of people over to his house for a pot-luck meal of international foods. I must brag that the food everyone brought was delicious and the Chilean salsa I made was awesome. Thank you, thank you.

We did the usual dinner party thing and sat around and talked for a long time. I got to meet some new people, catch up with old friends and laugh a lot. I am so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life. Let me introduce you to two of them.




This is Penny (left) and Carol (right) and they are my sweet friends. We met only last semester in the GST program but I have loved getting to know them, talking about God with them and sharing yummy food together.

The rest of the evening was spent playing video games. Now I am not much of a video game player. I cannot do Mario or Halo or even Rock Band. I just have no skills and I have come to accept that about myself. I do not mind watching others play because I grew up watching my brother play Sonic the Hedgehog but if you want to get past level two in just about any game you better not play with me.

Having said that, I LOVE playing with the Wii. I love Wii Sport, Wii Fit, Mario Cart...I guess that is all I have ever done, that is until this weekend. I discovered Wii Dance. I have never done DDR but it is not the same thing because there is not a mat you step on. The movement comes from your arms and body while you hold the controller thingy.

When I heard there was a dance game I was pretty sure I would not be joining in on that fun. I cannot dance and I especially avoid situations where other people watch me dance. And yet, I got sucked in. I really got into it and had a blast. I was jumping all over the place and getting a really good workout. To really do well you have to move a lot and I was determined to do well. It was so fun and I could have done it for hours if it was not so tiring.

Looking back I am a little embarrassed at how much I got into the dancing. My arms were pumping, my legs were flying, and my hips were even moving a bit. I might have gotten a little too much into it but I got so zoned into the dancing character I was supposed to mimic that I forgot to worry about how goofy I looked. To those present, I apologize...and yet I don't because that was me just being silly me and I loved it.

Thanks for a fun evening friends and for the good work out. I was sore afterward!

Food Bank

I volunteered at the local food bank today. Since I have some extra time on my hands I really wanted to find a way to serve in the community. I find great joy in helping others, especially with basic needs such as food and clothing. Because of this I got connected with the food bank and got to go for the first time today.

The food bank is a huge warehouse that distributes food to places around town that give out food to those in need. What I got to help with was sorting. Have you ever wondered what happens when you open a box of ziplock bags in the store and then decide not to buy them or drop a can of corn? Well I think all of that comes to the food bank. There were boxes and boxes and boxes of food and necessary items (shampoo, trash bags, diapers) to be sorted through and places in boxes of similar items. We threw away gross or opened things and taped up opened things.

The work was fine and I was glad to help but I really enjoyed the people I worked along side. To be sensitive, lets just say I live in the ACU bubble and have not stepped outside that bubble a lot. I like being outside of the bubble and meeting people who may not be the people I would normally spend time with. I was somewhat uncomfortable at first but they were all very welcoming and chatty and I enjoyed talking to them and hearing about their kids, their diets, and their jobs. I hope some of the same people are there every time I go so I can get to know them. People are so interesting!!!

I am so thankful for this opportunity to serve and I am looking forward to the other ways I am going to get to do this in the next few months.

Cheese

This picture was taken at Thanksgiving this year. It is me and my brother and sis-in-law with our grandparents. Notice our funny smiles? Well you see, whenever my Papa is asked to smile for a picture he does not really smile but just kind of gapes his mouth open. We are doing the Papa smile. I think this picture is so funny and just had to share it. I am sure it is a "guess you had to be there" kind of thing but you never know. At least my grandma has a pretty smile!

Thankful Monday

I know everyone does Thankful Thursday but today is Monday and I am feeling thankful so here we go!

I am thankful for:

• morning coffee

• worship time with my mission team

• the Psalms

• beautiful "winter" weather

• all my fun friends that let me hang out with them this weekend

• my teammates allowing me play disc golf with them even though I am bad

• funny movies

• the chance to serve

• my wonderful church at Hope

• having friends visit my church

• my neighbor who continues to humble himself and knock on our door when in need

• the chance to study Spanish

• the Cowboys loosing

• encouragement from other missionaries

• Gilmore Girls

• leg soreness from exercise

I had a blessed weekend and am looking forward to this new week.

Back in the Swing of Things

It is nearing the end of my first full week back in Abilene and things are going well. I was afraid I might be bored or not have enough to do but that will not be the case. Thanks to Google Calendar and sticky-note to-do lists I have plenty to be working on and I am excited about it all.

One of the highlights of this week has been Spanish class! Yea!!! It has been a while since I have had any form of Spanish training to this was an exciting step. Wes, Ellen and I are in one class and Chad and Reid are in another class and it is...interesting.

The professor is stern but quirky and he makes me laugh. He speaks very clearly and I can usually understand what he is saying which is a relief. I hope that I am a good auditor and really spend time studying and taking the class seriously. I know most auditors tend to drop off throughout the semester but this is really important to me and I want to learn as much Spanish as possible now.

Hola, me llamo Dee. Soy de Texas. Me gusta ir al cine, comiendo helado y mirando futbol Americano. Tengo muchos gran amigos y un gran familia.

The rest of my weeks are going to be spent working for Worldwide Witness, studying Spanish, researching Chile, meeting with my teammates, working on our visions and dreams and plan of action for our work. I also am looking at various places around town that I can volunteer and finding as many was as possible to be involved and serving at church.

This is going to be an interesting semester and it is going to take some time to get used to but I am really looking forward to it. Many people think this is just a goof-off semester for me and as fun as some of it may be, I am also taking it and the support from A&M very seriously. This is a crucial time for our team's formation and I hope to take every moment as a blessing from God.

Grad school took a lot out of me and I am relieved to be moving on and getting to do what I really want to do: pour my life into the lives of others and love them as much as I can.