It's Time for Another...

...Thankful Thursday!!! I have not done one since May and that was actually a Thankful Sunday so it almost does not even count. I have so much to be thankful for and I'm going to share it all with you.

I am thankful for:

• The amazing rain we are getting in DC due to some tropical something. I am loving this. It was a little hard to get out of bed this morning but I managed.
• Morning coffee
• Everyone here in DC who has helped me so much- helped with offering directions, providing meals, giving advice, making me laugh and just being my friends
• The relationships I am forming
• Excitement over little things like new jeans
• The chance to cook and eat new foods
• Visits- those who have come and those that are coming

Cathie and Daniel visited their daughter and had time see me!

• I have not gotten in a wreck since living here
• Funny friends
• The leaves on the trees just starting to change
  
• The chance to serve
• People who help me make decisions when I cant stand to make another
• Exploration

My exploration of Old Town Alexandria- beautiful place

• Restful sleep, seriously, so thankful
• My running trail
• People who challenge my view of the world
• The amazingness of being able to communicate with people far away

I love Thankful Thursdays!

Tee Hee

Things that make me laugh:

• West Wing characters
• Attempting to sing really high notes in church
• Funny stories from friends
• Remembering my funny stories
• People who don't know the sounds that "h", "j" and "ll" make in Spanish
• This guy in my Spanish class that says "um" more times than actual words, so that by the time he finishes his sentence I cannot remember how it started
• Lanes that randomly end when I am driving in them
  
• People who try to convert random shoppers in the mall
  
• Me being stupid enough to stop and listen to these so-called evangelists
• When I fall out of my yoga poses
• Thinking that the Texans might actually be good
• Checking my fantasy football scores- I am terrible
• Saying "nos vemos" in Spanish
• The Pioneer Woman
  

Weekend Fun

If you know me at all you know that I like to have fun, to try new things and to spend time with people. This past weekend was full of that and I loved it all.

Saturday I went to the H Street Festival with some friends from church. What is the H Street Festival about? I still don't know. It was just a festival to have a festival I guess and it was perfect that way. The weather was beautiful and the street was full of interesting food, people, sounds, and smells.

Eating Thai food and a snow cone, all from the same booth

We mainly spent our time walking around, seeing what yummy food we could eat and watching the interesting people. There were people doing crazy things all the way from singing in a gospel choir to having hula-hoop contests to having a dance/paint party.

I think this car was trying to grab us

There was also an art car exhibit which was cool to look at and admire their work. I was so impressed! I seriously felt like I could have stayed at the festival all day just looking at people go by, wondering why they were dressed in costume and what they were thinking about the festival. There were people of all ages and all races, some with dogs, some with kids and some just having a good time. It was great!

Lots of people there enjoying the festival

Sunday was a a wonderful surprise, not that I did not know what I was going to but that I did not know I would enjoy it so much. I went with friends from church to what is called Opera in the Outfield. It is an event located at the Nationals baseball stadium. The Opera that is being performed at the Kennedy Center is simulcast to the stadium for everyone to watch. For free!!!

So after church on Sunday we headed down to the stadium. I drove and got us there and back safely with only a little stressful moment when I had to parallel park with cars driving by. Ahh! Anyways, we took our lunches in and got seated just in time to not pay attention to the screen that was telling us the story line. I felt a little lost throughout the whole thing but not so lost that I did not enjoy it. We worked as a team and figured out what was going on.

Beautiful day to sit at the baseball stadium and watch an opera don't you think?

It was sung in Italian and they had English subtitles for us to read. In between each act we would read a little more of the story so we would know what was going on. They gave away the ending before it ended but I guess knowing that the main character is going to die in the end is not that unusual for an opera so I just went with it and tried to be surprised anyways.

The singing was AMAZING and so was the set and costumes. I just loved every bit of it. I also was impressed how easy it was to see and hear it all sitting in that bright, open baseball stadium but it really was not a problem.

I am not sure of the official reason for the opera but as I told my Spanish class about my weekend they asked me why they had a free opera. I thought about it and attempted to respond that I think it was so that those of us who knew nothing about opera can now appreciate it a little bit. I feel a little more educated about the opera and think it is something that is great. There are probably a couple thousand other people who feel the same way. Unless they didn't appreciate it I guess but I just cannot see what you could not appreciate about it.

Obviously we did not have to dress up for the opera

Anyways, it was a really fun weekend and I was so thankful to spend time with such wonderful people, enjoying the beauty and culture of DC.

Oh yea, and the Houston Texans beat the Washington Redskins. They were playing here and I really enjoyed trash talking my Redskin fan friends. Go Texans!!!

Quiet Time

The scripture meditation for today comes from Galations 6:11.

"See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!"

Haha, I know that is not meant to be funny, but it always makes me smile to read it. It seems so out of place, but such an interesting little glimpse into Paul's world. I wish in my Bible these words were capitalized or something so they would be large letters. That would really be funny!

I hope you got as much out of this quiet time as I did. :)

Espanol

I just attended my 2nd Spanish class since being here in DC and it went really well. I got a chance to talk about my weekend (blog about that coming up) and relearned for like the billionth time, the subjunctive. If you know what that is join me in shouting BOOOO!

Just to show that the opportunity to learn Spanish is all around me let me teach you a new word I JUST learned while sitting here at a coffee shop. I look up and see this sign that says "No Loitering" and underneath it "No Vagabundear." That is a great word. Say it with me, "vagabundear." That might come in a close second to my favorite Spanish word to say, "estacionamiento." What does that mean? Something deep maybe? Nope, it means parking.

It's the little things in life that amuse me.

Vagabundear.

Estacionamiento.

What a great day!

Pretty Shoes

I love getting new running shoes. They are so pretty. They are white and fresh and clean and ready to be run into the ground. It is like I get to help them do what they were created to do. Run! Silly, I know. I took these new babies out for a spin this morning and they felt great. My knees were thanking me for some new support.

National Zoo

On Labor Day I went to the National Zoo with some friends from church. The weather was perfect, the zoo was free, and we had a great day. We walked around for almost 6 hours and were worn out by the end but we saw a lot. My favorite animal to see was a tie between the panda bears and the jelly fish. Jelly fish? Jelly fish. They were amazing!!! Just look at the picture below. I seriously could have watched them for hours.

Sweet looking lion

The only thing the zoo was missing was giraffes. Giraffes are my favorite animal and I was really looking forward to getting to see these strange looking creatures with their awkward heights, bony knees, big eyelashes and purple tongues. How could the National Zoo not have giraffes! Even the Abilene zoo has giraffes!

Check out those brilliant colors

Sometimes going to the zoo can make me sad that the animals are stuck in cages and not able to roam as much as they would be in the wild. This trip was no different, but some of the signs in the zoo addressed this issue and said that many of these animals are more healthy and well fed than most animals in the wild and they are treated very well. I guess that's ok...

Panda bear- they are so cute

The pandas were also really fun to watch. They were very playful and it was cool to know that they are they only pandas in the country.What is funny is that they are on loan from China. It was funny to hear that the US and China are working on a new lease for the panda bears as if they were a rental house. Their 10 year lease just ran out and they are trying to keep them. I hope they get to stay. Their habitat was so huge that it was hard to find them unless they came inside (and they did). As soon as the pandas came in people crammed into see them and the crowd was super excited!

Beautiful jelly fish- these were my favorite thing to watch

Ladies of the group, riding home on the metro

I have to give the credit for these pictures to another party member not pictured. Thanks K. for sharing and for taking some great pics.

Sure, I'll Take an Ashtanga Yoga Class...

Since my weekly schedule has been quite irregular for the past few weeks...or months...I have not been able to attend any yoga classes. I have been missing yoga so when I arrived in Virginia I started looking for places around me. I found a little studio down the street and decided to check it out on Tuesday. I had emailed them to see which class I should take, stating that I had done some yoga before and wanted something challenging. Challenging was what I got!!

I arrived and the class was made up of me, another lady and this intense looking instructor. I knew I was in trouble when she said that to practice Ashtanga properly you are supposed to go to class six times a week. As she began to explain what we would be doing I was thinking "what is Ashtanga, what have I gotten myself into, and would they notice if I left." I told the instructor I had never done Ashtanga before and she said that was fine but I needed to check my pride at the door and know that I would not get it my first time. Awesome.

I also knew I was in trouble when she said that downward facing dog pose (using sanskrit terms by the way, not words like down dog but words like adho mukha svanasana) would be our resting pose and there would be no child's pose for us. Crap!

It seems that the basic move of Ashtanga is what you can see in the video below. I could not even do this basic move so of course I could not do the rest of the poses. Could you? I mean, I can hardly do a push up, how in the WORLD am I supposed to do THIS!!



I stuck it out through the class but when I left I was sweating and my arms and legs were like jello. That was NOT a normal yoga class, more like a body building class. I pretended like I had a good time and that I would come back sometime when in reality I wanted to pull the lady's arms off so she could not inflict pain on anyone else ever again!

Turns out I am not just a wimp and this type of yoga is real and is crazy. I emailed my old yoga instructor to see what kind of class I should be taking. I told her what I went to and she said "Wow! Power to ya!" and then told me what her style is called. I am going to do that next time.

You might think I am exaggerating about how hard this class was but I'm not. I could not even do the poses half way and 4 days later I am still hurting. My lower abs hurt, my upper back and shoulders hurt and my hamstrings are killing me! On a normal day I can bend over and touch my toes no problem. Not today! Not at all since Tuesday! I did not even go for a run yesterday because of my hamstrings. I have been stretching like crazy and am hoping for some relief soon.

I enjoy trying new things so I won't say I regret going but I am looking forward to a doable yoga next week. Hopefully that is what I get!

Old Spice Commercial

This commercial cracked me up tonight. It is so bizarre!!!! This is such great advertising that it makes me want to wear Old Spice!

Blog Advice

The Pioneer Woman today gave a list of 10 things she has learned about blogging, one of them being do it regularly, even if you don't feel like you have much to say. Tonight I don't feel like I have much to say. I have a lot on my mind but that does not mean anyone would want to read about it. The little cursor is blinking at me, challenging me to type something...anything...whenever I am ready...here it comes...

It has been a while since I have been the "new kid in town" but now I remember why I always try so hard to make people feel included when they are new. It is tough being new. Not that everyone here is not nice or welcoming or anything because they TOTALLY are, but it is not the same as when I am the regular kid in town. I like being the regular kid. It is easier.

I better get over wanting to be the regular real quick though and be ok with being the new kid because the next year+ of my life is going to be about being new. I am new here in Virginia, I will be new in Santiago and I will be new in Conce. I am ok with all of those things but I dream about being a regular in Conce.

A regular here, eating fruit, chatting with the salesman

A regular here, waving to those I know passing by

I dream about going to the grocery store down the street and knowing the people that work there. I am excited about having a usual place I eat at or drink tea at where I am known and I know others. I can't wait to get to know my neighbors and being the interesting foreign friend next door instead of the new girl who doesn't know anything. I look forward to running through the park and waving at the old man or the woman and her baby that I pass by everyday.

A regular here, no explanation needed

A regular here, see the tennis rackets?

I pray these dreams come quickly, but also that I am open and ready to learn from being the new girl. I try very hard to live in the moment and enjoy where I am at instead of always looking for something better, so until I am a regular in Conce I will attempt to thrive at being the new girl and see what I can learn!

A regular here, praying over the city

Hopefully not a regular on this route :)

Ladies Week

This week has been full of meeting with various ladies of the church and I enjoyed it greatly. I decided last weekend that I needed to start asking people if I could spend time with them and this wonderful week is a result of that.

Monday: Attended a Bible study at a homeless shelter for women with 3 women from church. I was amazed and how much the homeless women desired to study God's word and to share their struggles.

Tuesday: Had a lovely evening with a lovely lady and she cooked a lovely dinner for us. We talked for a couple of hours and I really enjoyed getting to know her.

Wednesday: Ventured to a new area of town to a free Spanish conversation class and was joined by a lady from church who also wants to learn Spanish. We were very impressed with the class and I was glad to have someone to experience it with.

Thursday: Joined a lady from church on a trip to one of the military bases in the area. We worked out at the gym (where I pumped some iron), went to the PX and the commissary (I use those terms as if I know what they mean) for groceries and stopped by the Air Force Memorial. I love joining someone for their daily routine or running errands and I loved this also.

Friday: Went to lunch with some ladies at the Officers Club at the base. I had to put on my best manners and remember how to properly cut my meat but I had a wonderful time chatting and laughing and eating yummy food. They were so sweet to me and I felt so welcome.

Friday Night: Braved the Metro alone to have dinner with a friend from Abilene who lives here now. I thoroughly enjoyed my traveling experiences (the Metro is a great place to people watch), my time with her, and our delicious homemade dinner.

Thanks for a great week ladies!!

My Hope

Networks from jessalyn massingill on Vimeo.

This is a video about my church in Abilene, Hope. It is about 30 min long but it is worth watching it. These are the people that provided me Hope.