Saturday, January 27, 2007

New House!!!

My roommate, Laura, and I moved into our new house today! It's still a mess and not at all unpacked (and void of most furniture, as it won't be delivered until friday!), but we are excited to finally be in. We've spent the last several days shopping for furniture and pretty much everything you need to furnish a house. I love shopping and we've had a blast, but it's been just about exhausting! However, very conveniently located just down the road from our house is a Starbucks and a Dairy Queen. So, tonight, we decided we needed a little break from all of the shopping, moving, and unpacking. Here are a few pictures of our "break." Hope you all are doing well!!

My first trip to Starbucks since I left the states...I don't think I've ever enjoyed a drink so much!!


Laura, Chris, and Angeles hangin out at 'Bucks. ;)


My newest friend, "Barney." He lives just outside the gate to our house and I've decided to adopt him. Tonight I fed him my left over gordita from lunch because he's pretty scrawny and needs to be a lil "mas gordo", if ya know what I mean!

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

I live in Mexico now!

Well, after a crazy last few days at home filled with packing and saying goodbyes, I made it to Guadalajara, Mexico a little over a week ago. My roommate, Laura, and I have been busy finding a place to live and getting to know the other missionaries in the city. Hopefully we will be furniture shopping in the next few days and moving into our new place very soon! We are very excited to have our own place and to be able to get settled. Here are a few pictures of our time here so far:

What city would be complete without a statue like this?



Gotta love the giant chair!


Chasing the mouse in our apartment. We have yet to catch him...


Making jamaica! It's a really yummy drink, brewed like tea, but from dried flowers.


Laura and I with the cake we made to celebrate our birthdays and Laura's being on the field for three months!

Friday, January 05, 2007

As promised, a real update, complete with pictures! The past few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind, but so much fun. I've had a blast getting to spend tons of time with friends and family.

My sisters and I seem to have a difficult time taking "normal" pictures, so this is what we wind up with:





A couple of days after Christmas, we got to go see "A Christmas Carol" at Ford's Theater in Washington, DC. It was a great show and interesting to be in such a historic theater. Afterwards we went to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner and somehow got this "normal" picture!





The day after that, Dad and I drove out to Missouri to visit my grandparents. It was great to see everyone!

I even found a sign pointing me to Mexico! (Mexico, Missouri that is!)



I pray you all had a wonderful Christmas and that your new year is off to a great start! I am so excited to see what God has in store in the coming year!

Thursday, January 04, 2007

I'm sorry I've not been so great at updating this! My time at home has been wonderful, but also crazy. I have been enjoying tons of time with family and friends and am trying to just soak it all in even as I try to finish getting everything ready to leave. I promise I will post more of an update soon (with pictures and everything)...it's on my "to-do" list for the next few days. Tonight though, I will leave you with a song. I first heard this sometime in early October, before I left for Orientation and it has meant a lot to me these past few months. I don't really even have words to describe how much I love this song, except to say that this has been a lot of what I've been thinking/feeling these past few months. Enjoy.

Painting Pictures of Egypt
Artist: Sara Groves
Album: Conversations

I don’t want to leave here
I don’t want to stay
It feels like pinching to me either way
The places I long for the most
Are the places where I’ve been
They are calling after me like a long lost friend

It’s not about losing faith
It’s not about trust
It’s all about comfortable
When you move so much
The place I was wasn’t perfect
But I had found a way to live
It wasn’t milk or honey
But then neither is this

CHORUS:
I’ve been painting pictures of Egypt
Leaving out what it lacked
The future seems so hard
And I want to go back
But the places that used to fit me
Cannot hold the things I"ve learned
And those roads closed off to me
While my back was turned

The past is so tangible
I know it by heart
Familiar things are never easy to discard
I was dying for some freedom
But now I hesitate to go
Caught between the promise
And the things I know

BRIDGE:
If it comes too quick
I may not recognize it
Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?
If it comes too quick
I may not appreciate it
Is that the reason behind all this time and sand?