Dear Conce

How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith. Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

These words written to the Thessalonians speak my heart tonight to the city and people of Concepcion. May God hear your cries and bring you peace and may you find ways to serve and love those around you.

What's Been on My Mind Grapes

Snow makes everything REALLY bright! I can totally understand snow blindness now and why they have those blue stripes on the snow in the Olympics. Everything looks the same when you are in a big field of it.

I got to drive in the snow yesterday and it was super fun. I used to be so scared of it but it is a bit of a thrill now. Kate, my Subaru, was totally in her element. I think she gets bored in Texas so this was good for her. :)

I LOVE the Olympics! Every night I get to watch I find a new favorite event (except for Ice Dancing) because I love most of them and cannot decide. My tried and true favorite is women's ice skating but I am super enthralled by ski aerials and snowboard half pipe. Those are just amazing and crazy. I also love all the skiing but every time someone falls it hurts me and I am sure I can feel my ACL cringe.

LOST! Woah! That was a crazy episode and quite hard to follow I thought. WHAT is up with the Losties names being written everywhere. WHAT would the wheel have shown/done if it is was put on 108 (remember that number? I do! My money is on Desmond) I do not trust Jacob. Maybe I am wrong but I think he is just like everyone else, using others to get what HE wants. If only everyone could be trusting and giving like Hurley. I am totally creeped out by Claire and her "friend" and I am a little sad that she is bad. I still had hope.

It is almost MARCH! Ahh!

I am taking my end of my Masters degree Comps on Friday. I am only nervous when people ask if I am nervous. I am more just ready to get them done with. I do not really know what to expect but I have learned what I need to know so I am not too worried. Having said that, if you think about it you can pray for me and my writing and remembering skills from 1-5 on Friday. Thanks!

My running/falling injuries are healing up nicely. My scrapes and bruises are starting to fade, I got my tooth fixed and I am no longer sore. I have run just as much as I have been with no problems since. I am thinking I might need new running shoes though. I have had these for about a year and have put a lot of miles on them. My knees seem to be hurting more than they should so I want to try new shoes before looking into other alternatives.

A Little Tumble

Ever do something you are embarrassed about and to hide that embarrassment you tell others about it and laugh? Well I am about to share one of those stories with you. I am over the embarrassment and will hopefully be over the injuries soon as well.

I took quite a big tumble the other day while running. I actually might call it more of a face plant because although my natural instincts did click in and I put my hands out to catch myself, they did not keep my chin, upper lip and teeth from hitting the ground.

Did I at least trip for a cool reason you might wonder, such as trying to save a little old lady from being robbed. Nope, I just tripped on the tiniest crack around the ACU campus track. As I ran past it again the today I see no reason for my falling, yet I did.

It all happened so fast. I remember my foot catching but I did not even have time to think through the fact that I was falling. One moment I was vertical, running along, the next I was flat on the ground praying that I had not broken anything. I was lucky that I did not.

I did not emerge injuryless though. I do have a scrape on my chin (and people stare at it but are afraid to say "what happened to your face"), a chipped tooth, a scraped up hand, a black, blue and green right knee, a black blue and green left hip, and sore shoulders from the impact. But no broken bones. I am thankful.

I laid face down on the track, slightly in shock of what had just occurred. I then rolled over onto my back into the grass to avoid getting trampled on by others. I guess no one on the track saw it happen or at least I like to think so because no one checked to make sure I was ok. I KNOW people from their cars saw me because I was right next to a stop light and a line of cars so if any of you are reading this, shame on you for not asking if I was ok. Shame.

I told myself there was no reason to cry and all I needed to do was get up and walk home and I would be fine. I did get up after a while of calming down (it is scary to fall like that) and checking my wounds but I could not keep the tears in. I walked home crying like a little girl who just fell down except I am a 25 year old girl and that is almost worse!

I survived though and even went for a run today without too much pain. I feel so silly that I fell while running but as I tell my story to others I find out I am not alone. I never thought of running as a dangerous sport but I guess you never know. As I ran today I was VERY aware of my feet and whether they were scraping the ground or not. I never thought of myself as a feet shuffler but now I will be paranoid and overcompensate, at least for a while.

So please laugh at me or at least smile knowing that you have done it too and help me get over my embarrassment. :)

Team/LOST Tuesday

Today was another Team Tuesday filled with wonderful time with my teammates starting early and ending late. Watching LOST was especially fun tonight due to my special surprise: LOST Bingo! The idea was passed on to me by the BFF and I got to share it with my team. We had a lot of fun reading the silly squares and anticipating their occurrences. It was not the best episode for LOST Bingo but the fun will continue next week.

Aren't we cute/dorky with our bingo sheets

I still cannot resist making a snowman (or woman here)

It snowed last week here in A-town and it was a good enough snow to close things down and let us play outside (as seen from my snowwoman) but not so much that we were miserable. I really enjoyed the day and getting to put my snow gear to use.

Practicing our characters

The other fun thing I did lately was attend a Chinese New Years party with my Chinese friend Penny and other friends. I was very excited to go and have a new cultural experience and share a special holiday with a sweet friend.

This is supposed to say Happy New Year's- if you read Chinese please do not correct me if I am wrong

Other fun things at the party included Chinese music, information about CNY, the making of dumplings and AMAZING FOOD! I had some wonderful noodles, sushi and dumplings and tried oysters for the first time. They were not my fav. I enjoyed practicing my Chinese characters and learning about a culture and holiday I know so little about.

So Happy Chinese New Years to all. It is the year of the Tiger!

Thankful Thursday + Snow = Beautiful Day

This is going to be short and sweet. Today I am thankful for:

1. The beautiful snow that is falling outside. I just love it. I already took a morning walk with all my snow gear on (thank you very much living in Denver).

2. The beautiful Blume family. They live in Brazil and have been such a blessing on my life and the life of our team. Check out this amazing blog they wrote on us. It was completely their idea. Thanks a ton to them.

Team Tuesdays

Tuesdays are team days. We did not plan on stacking one day with more team stuff than others but it just worked out that way. We start at 6:45AM with breakfast worship time together, do various things throughout the day together including various discussion topics, lunch with Mer, Spanish lab and then meeting with our mentor at 5pm for our weekly meeting. After the mentor meeting we head over to someone's house for dinner and have started a trend of crock-pot-Tuesdays (I guess we like to name things) since crock-pot meals are easy to make and feed a lot. After dinner now we watch LOST which takes us until about 9PM. Whew! I love Tuesdays but they wear me out.

5PM Team Meeting with mentor-

I would like to try and document our time together as a team better and this week I had a little more success than last week. This morning I brought the breakfast to our worship time. I got this amazing cookbook for Christmas and have been wanting to make some recipes from it ASAP so I jumped at the opportunity to make The Pioneer Woman's Maple Scones. See the wonder that is below.

Look at that sweet, gooey goodness and be jealous

Ellen joined me for a fun evening of experimental cooking for these scones and I must brag that we did an excellent job. I was a little concerned a couple of times that they may not turn out right but they were awesome. They may not have been as beautiful as TPW's might be but they sure were tasty.

Is that beautiful or what?

Know what made them even tastier? DIPPING THEM IN COFFEE!!! Mmmmmm! If only you could have been there. :) So the day started out well with yummy food and good company and ended well with yummy food, good company and LOST. I could not have asked for a better Team Tuesday!

Hasta!

Reading Adventures

"It's about bunnies," Sawyer from LOST says about Watership Down. I just finished reading this book and its true. It is a story about the lives of bunnies and all their adventures and trials. As strange as this sounds, it was a great book. I have wanted to read it for quite a while but never read it in school and just now got around to it. I needed some light reading and it fit the criteria just perfectly.

I am also excited about my next reading adventure. As part of my mission team's training we want to learn more about Chilean history. I have not been super thrilled about this and have put it off until now. This is not because I do not enjoy history but because I would rather be told history or watch a movie about history than to read a history book. It sounds like a total snooze to me but I have found a way to make it more exciting. The history book I will be reading is The Conquest of Chile with the main character being a conquistador named Pedro de Valdivia.

There is a Chilean author I enjoy reading named Isabel Allende. I have read two of her books and have been wanting to read more of them. Most involve or take place in Chile or involve or are set in an "unnamed Latin American country" (aka Chile). They are grand stories with many layers and characters. The one I am about to begin is called Ines of My Soul and it just happens to be a fictional story about a love affair between a conquistadora and Pedro de Valdivia as they establish the country of Chile.

So I will be reading a history book about Valdivia alongside a historical fiction novel about Valdivia's love life. How fun is that! I am hoping it will make the history book more interesting and also help me to learn the information while enjoying a fun novel. I am super proud of my plan. And now, I'm off to read!

!Hasta!

Top 5

Some fellow LOST friends shared with me recently the fun game they played as they watched multiple seasons on DVD before being currently caught up. The constantly had their Top 5 characters and as those characters died or new ones were introduced (both of which happen often), they could change their list.

I was asked my Top 5 and I was not sure. I have had my top 1 for a while but 5 is tough. This list you are about to read has taken some serious thought to compose but here are my (drum roll please)

TOP 5 LOST CHARACTERS:

5. Miles- I love his sarcasm and interesting interaction with his father (everyone has Daddy issues on this show)

4. Ben- I know he is "bad" but he is probably the most fascinating character

3. Sun- Yes, she cheated on her husband but these last few seasons she has proved her awesomeness and toughness, she may even be tougher than Kate- I might have to rename my car Sun...

2. Desmond- I love this Brother and his love story with Penny

1. Hurley- I just want to hug him and hang out with him

Do not think I am not pulling for the main characters (Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Locke, etc.) or even that I do not like them but these less main characters are almost more interesting sometimes. I love all the interactions though and hope the show becomes more character based this season as it was in the first season.

I will let these sit for a bit and maybe revisit my list as the season progresses.

For you non-LOST fans I promise to start writing about others things. The excitement of the week is still fresh. :)

Ooo Scary Grammar, I'm Afraid

I have been in Spanish class for a couple of weeks now and today was the first day I have cried because of it. No I did not cry in class but while studying for class. I am actually quite proud that it has taken this long. In my long history with learning Spanish many tears have fallen out of frustration and lack of understanding and today was no different.

I cannot even explain to you what I was learning because I hardly understand it myself but it all comes back to my fear and hatred for grammar...of any kind...of any language. I had a seriously rough time learning grammar all throughout school and I still cannot tell you much more than what nouns and verbs are. When you get into direct objects and reflexive stuff you totally loose me and if I am trying to teach myself Spanish grammar when I do not even understand the English grammar, that puts me in a tight spot.

I found myself in that place this morning, sitting at my kitchen table trying to study for class. I was totally confused and having flashbacks to 7th grade English class, being called upon to name the parts of the sentence and not having a clue. I know it sounds silly and I am being a bit dramatic, but I really have never understood grammar and usually I get by fine until I try to learn the grammar of a language that is not my own. This = frustrating times.

Yet, I did not shut my book or walk away, I pressed on and somewhat began to understand what the book was trying to teach. Then I went to class and I understood a little bit more. I do much better with a teacher and examples of sentences instead of reading a book that is trying to explain indirect objects and where they go. I need things to roll off my tongue and feel where they fit instead of explaining where they fit.

Today was just another day of crying over Spanish and I can guarantee that it will not be the last but I can also guarantee that I will keep trying and have some fun doing it too. Boo ya grammar! You have been triumphed over again!!! :)

Hasta! (That's short for hasta luego or see you later)

Capoeira

Capoeira (according to Wikipedia) is an an Afro-Brazilia art form that combines elements of martial arts, music, and dance. It was created in Brazil by slaves brought from Africa.

What does Capoeira have to do with me you might wonder? I went to my first Capoeira class on Sunday and it was...interesting. I can say with certainty that God did not bless me with much coordination or dancing skills but that does not mean that I do not like to try anyways.

A guy on campus teaches for free and I with with my friend Carol and her sister. Both of them have danced their whole lives and Carol actually spent a year doing mission work in Brazil and took Capoeira classes there. Needless to say I was out of my league. I was the worst of the 4 of us but I sure did have a good time.

Here is a little video to show you what learning Capoeira might look like. And here is a little video of what awesome Capoeira people look like. I looked worse than all of these people but I sure gave it my best shot.

I was swinging my legs and ducking and bouncing with everyone else...just with a little less coordination. I would say it was a successful lesson for me because I did not kick anyone and no one kicked me. Yea!

We ended the lesson working on our cartwheel skills. I have not done a cartwheel in who knows how long and those skills are lacking just about as much as my dancing skills. Who knew it could be so hard! I blamed it on being tall but the teacher would not take that as an excuse. So if you see me in my front yard doing cartwheels you will know why.

All in all it was a fun time. I got a good work out, laughed at myself and leanrned something new. I hope to go back next week. Who knows, maybe I will surprise everyone with my new talent!

LOST: The Rap

I must give honor to Kaylynn for sharing this video with me. It felt appropriate to share since Lost premiers tomorrow. Hooray!

You would not believe how many people have made Lost tribute songs or raps that are on youtube. I think this one is pretty good but if you want a good laugh check some others out. Part of me wants to say people have too much time on their hands but I'm also a little jealous that I am not "cool" enough to come up with something like this. Enjoy!