Friends, Food, Fiesta, y Fellowship

      Wow so to begin this I am going to share with the world (or at least a few people) what Emily and I did Friday night. Please do not judge us (I have a friend...HE is a pretty big deal & doesn't like people judging others). Okay so Friday is the youth cell group. Alex led the group and we talked about God (what do you know!) and it was great. We visualized what we hear, smell, see, etc. when we see God, drew that picture(s) and found scripture that kind of explained what we thought. It was neat to get it down on paper. Then after the lesson all of us (there was like 10 of us there) ate cake because it was one of the girls birthday & then talked/laughed. (p.s. they all picked on me a lot...I think they really like me).

       After that me and Emily decided to be wild and crazy and just walk somewhere & see where the wind would take us. It took us about 30 minutes away from the house. We were just walking then high-fived each other & decided to walk back to the house since it started to rain a little bit (yes we live on the edge). Then all of a sudden we had a hankerin' for some tacos. Of course I was not opposed to this, so we walked in the rain back towards our house & stopped at a taco stand, but WAIT it does not end there. We ate tacos and THEN, EMILY (although she denies this & will probably write lies on here and/or on her blog) said that she could go for more tacos, then I said haha we should go to another taco stand (I was just joking) AND what do you know she said that she wasn't opposed to that idea! Sooo we paid, walked a little more & ate at another taco stand. That's the story, and it was funny to us. Like I said don't judge us. :)

      When we arrived home (like I said we walked in the rain) we were soaked! We didn't want Morelia to see that we were wet because she would get upset (she...well, Mexicans in general say that if you are out in the rain, get your feet wet & cold, etc. you get sick...I'm not going to lie, I believe some of it.... but then again I am one of them). We snuck in without Morelia seeing us, even though we walked straight past her, changed into dry clothes and greeted her. :) 

       Later that night I called my mom and she ended up talking to Morelia! That was really cool, and my grandma got to talk to her as well! How cool is that... that my family is in another country, but they were able to meet one of the people I live with! I know that that was an encouragement for both my family & Morelia to speak to each other & know that they are each in each others thoughts and prayers. Plus I know my grandma felt better hearing Morelia's kind voice & know that I am safe & sound. (Oh my family speaks Spanish if you didn't know... I mean I do too... but not super great... I understand pretty much all of it though). :) 

      After Morelia talked to my familia she just started pouring out a part of her heart and life to us. She talked about children, and especially her granddaughter, Fernanda, that lives with them. She told us all about before & when she was born, and situations with her mother (Coco) and just revealed tons of stuff to us that was super personal. I know I'm being kind of vague about this, but we talked for over an hour and that's too much to fit on here. I feel like I, and my family, can relate to certain situations from Morelia's past & present. It's hard to explain without telling you all about my life. So we'll just live it at that. It was really nice to spend quality time with Morelia. She shows me Christ each time she speaks, and has such amazing trust & faith in him. She is open & is willing to be vulnerable. She loves Christ & wants everyone to know it, and love him too. I hope every person meets a Morelia one day.

        Okay, changing topics... yesterday was Sara's birthday! We had a surprise party for her at the office of Nestor & Jeovel (they are brothers, attend the church, and are cheaters at spoons). There were a little over 30 people probably. She acted surprised,  but she kind of knew that we were going to do something. We had so much fun. We ate these wonderful things called tingas, cake, chocolate fountain, and played spoons. By the way I played spoons with about 12 people (without trampas = cheating). It was down to me and preacher Sam & guess who won... ME! I felt pretty good about beating the preacher man. Hehe. :) 

     After the fiesta for Sara we went home and watched a movie with our mom, Morelia. We watched La Misma Luna (which is a FABULOUS movie about a little boy who crosses the border illegally to go find his mother, who is in the U.S. illegally trying to provide a better life for her son...it's a good one). Morelia enjoyed the movie then to bed we went to get some sleep for church.

      I sang on the praise team again today. We sounded pretty good if I may say so myself. Oh man, and Aldo (the leader) asked me to read some scripture during our singing. I was pretty nervous because it was a few verses with some big Spanish words but I didn't really mess up! :) Sam preached with tons of passion as usual, and the service was great! After church we ate with our family, washed the dishes, did a Bible study, and took a nap! I love Sunday naps! Then we walked, went to Starbucks, and I am now at Sara's house finishing this blog & about to call my lovely mother.

      Well, I'm going to call my mom now. I hope you enjoyed this post. It was super long though, but I just had a lot to say. :) Anywho... I hope that you have a beautiful day, and that you encounter a person like Morelia...or BE a person like Morelia. Adios! :)

Downhill...not me... my blog posts :)

      Why hello there everybody! Sooo I know that the last post I put up was a Debbie Downer. Think about how I felt! But just so you can know I am much better now. I'm no longer sick (it kind of came & went), and although I miss my family tons tons tons I feel okay in Mexico (I mean after a few tears & talks with my family). :) Enough of that, let me tell you about my week.

      So Sunday Beth left back to the U.S. (miss you Beth). She's alive, well, and most likely enjoying her drive to Michigan in a car with a one-year-old nephew & family(hehe). I on the other hand am still in Mexico eating tons of food (I think I always talk about food,  but it's always around me), and enjoying the relationships that are being built & strengthened. 

      Monday was a fun day. Emily & I were invited to eat breakfast at la casa de (the house of) Betti. Her two youngest dauhgters, Sofia & Ana, invited us to eat at their house because they were going out of town & did not think they were going to see us again before we left. So Monday morning (when I say morning I mean like 10 am) we went over to there house. The girls showed us all of their Brat dolls (when I say all of them I mean ALL of them). We talked about which one was their favorite, the ones with cool hair, and all that jazz. Then Betti talked about a trip she had a year or two ago (to some place I don't remember) and she showed us tons of pictures from her travel. Afterwards we went up to the roof part of the house & took pictures. Before we left Sofi & Ana gave me and Emily a few little gifts to remember them by (they are about 9 & 7 years old). They gave me a miniature, wooden giraffe toy & a necklace that had dolphins all over it. It was sooo super precious. We said our farewells and then we left to go to el centro (where we wrote and mailed tons of postcards...we also went to see Batman that day...it was AMAZING, go see it!!).

      Now we are to Tuesday (I'm not one to give you a play-by-play of my life, so I'll just give you the good stuff). Anywho... Tuesday evening we had cell group with Morelia (our mom here, she leads a group at Josephina's house down the corner where we live) and it went really well. Well, I won't talk about the entire cell time, but I will tell you about the end. There was this woman there named Angelica and at the very end of the lesson she asked me and Emily how are we the way we are. How do we stay away from the night scene (the nightlife is big here for young people, but it's different from the U.S., we can talk about that later) and how did we come to be focused on God & not other things (she has children around our age, so she wanted to hear what we had to say). So both Emily & I responded and I told her that I have a great group of friends who kind of believe what I believe when it concerns God (like we all love him & live for him) and I just try to surround myself with people like that. But I also told her that I wasn't always like that. I used to be friends with people, who although I love dearly, did not lift me up in the right ways. I used to do "bad" stuff & I just decided I didn't want to do that "stuff" anymore. I knew God didn't want me to, and I loved him & my family, and just decided to follow him (I mean it's a longer story, but that's a little something for you). And you know what... she was uplifted & seemed hopeful after me and Emily talked to her! At the very end of cell time when we hugged and were saying goodbye she told me and Emily that we were good examples to her, and it's so refreshing & hopeful to see people our age focusing on God and making good decisions. WOW! That just made me feel so good. I didn't do anything, but tell her a little bit of my story but it made such an impact (woo-hoo for shining Jesus' light)!

      Sooo anywho... that was Tuesday... Wednesday I went to morning prayer (which was great because I had a good time talking to God because he was stirring some stuff in my heart), and then went to Sam's cell group. Sam does such a good job at keeping everyone engaged, involved, and thinking! And today (Thursday) was Women's Bible Study. We had the study at Sam and Ann's because Sara is at the beach with her family. Her sister, bro-in-law, and CUTE nephews came down to visit her. OH! Real quick... today we woke up at 10:21 am. Wanna know what time the Bible study starts...at 10:30. We changed, ate breakfast, and were in the taxi by 10:45. Thank you, thank you. Hopefully I can pull that off when I get back to school!

      Well, I know this post was a bit random and is now going to end abruptly but my brain is kind of in a big mess right now. There is so much I can say & want to say, but it isn't very organized. So instead of rambling like I am and confusing you I am going to get off of here and do something else. Thank you for taking time to read this, and thank you for praying for me while I was sick/homesick. Continue to pray for Emily and I as we are here in Morelia to stay focused and BE HERE. I'll talk to you soon... oooo Sara's birthday is Saturday! What fun... I'm not going to say if we are doing anything for her because she reads this, but I will be sure to tell you next week if anything spectacular occured for her special occasion! Adios! :)

p.s. Are my blog posts going downhill or is it just me? I promise I, as well as my stay here, is way more interesting than what you think. I'll improve... you wait and see! :)

Fotos...

This is after a luncheon we had for Rick & Jamie Atchley where they met the cell group leaders! 

This was on the terrace of Onix. We watched the fireworks from here! (me, Emily, Sara, & Beth)

There's No Place Like Home

      So I guess I'm going to cut right to the chase... I think I'm a tad bit homesick. Let me start from the beginning, Tuesday night I started to become ill. I woke up every second, could not fall asleep, had a really bad runny nose, congestion, and all that yucky stuff. It was pretty miserable. The next day we had our weekly Wednesday morning prayer time (it was lovely, although to be honest I was zoning in and out between blowing my nose and trying to focus). I hardly even talked during tutoring because I felt so lousy! So when we returned home after tutoring I took a little nap after lunch to try to rejuvenate myself . When I woke up I wanted/needed to talk to my family. Whenever you're sick who do you want?...MOM! So I called my mom...NO ANSWER. I called grandma....NO ANSWER. I called my sister...NO ANSWER. At this point I am starting to tear up a little bit, so I called my friend Megan because I knew she would have her phone, at least I was hoping...PRAISE she ANSWERED! I started to cry and tell her how my family wasn't answering and I wanted to talk to them, and how I felt sick, and all that jazz. She was kind of course and did her best to be positive and make me feel better (thanks Meg), and then she told me to try my mom again (my mom was actually buzzing in on Megan's phone trying to call her while I was talking to her, did that make sense?). So I called my mom.

      Being the strong person I am I of course begin crying (don't judge me, if you were in a foreign country sick you would want your mom too). Yes, I did not feel good, BUT... I think the real reason why I was emotional (which I disclosed to my mother) is because I realized that I missed my family and how much time I still have left in Morelia (I'm actually here longer than 8 weeks, it's more like 9ish). I looked at a calendar that day and realized that my returning date is closer to 3 weeks than the 2 I thought. I guess it just made me sad and a bit anxious. Mom was positive and real Christ-like of course as she was trying to cheer me up (she always is). You know telling me about how I am blessing others, and I'm being blessed, and God put me there, and all that good stuff. So after a bit of emotional breakdown I said my goodbyes and blew my nose. So Wednesday night I slept a little bit better. I still woke up throughout the night and had gunk coming out of my nose, but all in all I felt a tad bit better. 

      Flashfoward to this morning (Thurs.) to our weekly intern check-up/women's Bible study. The study was good, but once again I kind of had extra emotions to vent. I told the group what had happened the day before, and how nobody answered my calls, my sickness and sadness, and my breakdown. We went through the study and THEN at the end when we were taking prayer requests guess what happened...I had another breakdown of emotions (surprise, surprise), but this was a tad bit different. Yes, I will admit I miss my family. I mean when I return to the states I'm going to be home for not even a whole week because I have to get back to Abilene! BUT what caused this particular rush of emotions was me thinking about God. Let me explain... 

      Since I've been here I've been having all different sorts of ideas rush into my head about how maybe one day I could live in another country, maybe I could teach children English in another country like Mexico or something, and all sorts of stuff (which I have never thought about, I a lot of time don't have big ideas like that for myself because I don't think I can do it... I know that's a little Debbie Downer, but I do feel that way) Anywho... and since I've been here I've been praying to God that I get out of my comfort zone and I don't want to be comfortable anymore and all that jazz. And now that I am uncomfortable I'm like "well God I don't want to be THAT uncomfortable!" THEN I'm like "GOD if I'm an emotional nutter now (not even reached the 8+ weeks and wanting my family and to be home), how am I going to make it LIVING (like for an extended amount of time) in another country!" And I feel that God is putting those ideas in my head because like I said there's no way I would be dreaming up those big plans, so I'm just frustrated and upset and just ugh right now with everything!

      Anywho... so I know I need to focus right now in Morelia. I want to be, but now its kind of the last leg of the race and its getting a bit harder. I want to soak up each moment I am here with everyone in Morelia, and I don't want to jip them because my heart & mind are somewhere else. I also want to know what God is up to. Apparently he thinks I can make it longer than two months somewhere that isn't home. I wish I had as much confidence in myself as I am assuming He does for me (since it was His idea for me to come here in the first place). So I'm sick. I'm tired. I'm emotional. I'm homesick. I'm glad I'm in Mexico. 

      I'm sure I'll learn something from this situation down the road, or maybe not. I'm going to blow my nose now, and go to sleep. But I thought I would share all that with you. Maybe it was a little more than what you wanted, but whatev. I hope you have a super day. Drink plenty of fluids, and get lots of Vitamin C.  Adios!

This isn't Riveting

      Wow, where to begin? So much has occurred since I last blogged (what else is new). Hmmm? Well, I don't really feel like giving you a play-by-play of each day since the last time I wrote in here because that might be tedious and/or aburrido (boring), so I am going to hit a couple high points of a few cool things that have taken place in Morelia.

      So Rick and Jamie Atchley came down from Ft.Worth to visit Rio de Vida (they are great people, and Jamie is PRECIOUS!). Rick is the preacher of Richland Hills Church of Christ (Rio de Vida's supporting church). They arrived Friday evening while Beth, Emily, Alex, and I were at the Guinto's (the Guinto's are a family from the church, OH and Sara was there but she left to see Rick & Jamie). We were playing spoons with them (a fun card game), and let me tell you things were getting a little crazy. I was accused of trampas (cheating) and forming an alliance with Jeovel (the head Guinto in the house). I am not going to deny I was cheating, but I am not going to admit that I was sitting on cards or exchanging cards with Jeovel during the game. God knows my heart, and that's all that matters (tee-hee). :) Oooo and after than they took us out for tacos! YUM!

      So in a nutshell, the next days consists of us having a lad

ies lunch at Santitos (OH! Whitney, Alex's girlfriend got here on Saturday morning to surprise him!), going to el mercado/ el centro to check out souvenirs and tour, going to a place called Onix to be on the roof of the building to eat and watch fireworks right next to the cathedral, and going to church and listen to Rick preach in English a great sermon 

& Sam translate it wonderfully in Spanish. Let me just say again Rick did a great job preaching. He also preached at another church called Filadefia that we (Rio de Vida) have visited before (because Sam was a guest preacher).

      Anywho... Rick & Jamie already left, and you know who else is about to say bonvoyage?... BETH!!! She is leaving this Sunday! That is just so weird to me! She's leaving early bec

ause she was in Oxford all semester so she hasn't really been able to see her family. It is going to be strange now that it is only me and Emily. OH! Sooo once Beth leaves Sunday that means that there will only be 2 weeks left for Emily & I! WHOA! I can't believe time has flown by so fast! 

      I'll probably be a basket case when I leave here. I don't know if you know th

is, but I'm a pretty emotional person (I get that from my mother). When the time comes for me to end this Mexico adventure I will have been here for two months! That's a long time in a different country I think (well at least for me). Anywho... I won't talk about me leaving, one because that's sad, and two because I need to be focused on now and my time with all these wonderful people!

      Well, I know that this blog post wasn't riveting (trust me, I'm rather disappointed in this piece of work), but rest assured that next time I write in here my creative juices will be flowing and it will be compelling (or at least a little more interesting). Thank you for your time, and I love you with all my heart! Adios! :)

      

Playa Azul

      Hello, Helllo! Guess where I was this weekend? At the beach!!! Woo-Hoo. Well, it actually wasn't woo-hoo at first, but it turned out really good. Let me tell you about it...

      Sunday after church, Sara, me, Emily, Beth, and Alex loaded up in the little Honda (which I named Helga, but the H is silent) and left for la playa. The drive was beautiful, full of mountains and green things, I think they are called trees, and just beauty. We laughed, talked, and sang. BOY DID WE SING! We had a lot of girlie music, so I know Alex appreciated that!

      We arrived in town to buy some groceries so we wouldn't starve, and then we were going to go pick up some gas jugs to fill up for the transformer at our house. This is where the not so w00-hoo part began (well at least I felt that it wasn't so much fun). I'll summarize this part for you... we needed to go pick up the gas jugs, but the people weren't at home. We didn't know exactly how to go to the beach house (oh there's this wonderful woman named Phylis who has a house on a private beach, she is great and let us stay at her house). Then we went ahead and drove to the house, but turned back around because the people with the gas jugs were home. Then once we got the gas containers we went to the house were we bottomed-out in Helga the Honda like a million times. Then once we finally got to the house we didn't have light and found candles with no matches (Alex went in the rain to some person's house to get matches, what a brave guy). Then once the power was on we saw sparks, and the power went out for the rest of the night. P.S. It was raining soooooo bad.

      So I know I sound like I am consumed in the negative, but please continue reading...

      Anywho.... so that night we ended up talking forever and then went to bed. The next day it was still kind of raining a little bit, and it was cloudy, BUT we were like HEY let's go the beach! So we went swimming in the ocean. We buried Alex and made him into a mermaid, then we buried Emily and made her into a butterfly, and made Beth into a muscle man (my idea of fun doesn't include getting sand and pebbles in places they don't need to be, but I think it's fun to bury others). Then I went back to the house and floated in the pool. I was floating around, and looking at the beautiful beach and realized...(and I shared this with Sara because she stayed at the house reading & enjoying the view) that God is good. (Before I had started the day I spent time with God in the morning and told him that I was sorry for being a big do-do for complaining to myself and being a Negative Nancy because of the circumstances. I had decided to dwell on what was not going my way or what I expected instead of truly enjoy our little adventure the day before, so I wanted to focus on enjoying my time with everyone and try to see the beauty in all things.)

      So anyways...I told Sara the God is so good, and I was really enjoying myself. Even though it was a bit cloudy and rainy we still decided to enjoy ourselves on the beach and have fun. The first day or so wasn't how we had expected (we had been so excited about this trip for weeks), but we still took advantage of what we had and made the most of it. Then what do you know the rain clouds started to disappear and out came the sun! This is where the WOO-HOO comes in to play. We had soooooo much fun playing on the beach, in the pool, playing cards, and getting to know each other better. It was a blast! 

      The ride back home to Morelia was wonderful. Ask Alex, he'll tell you how much he loved me singing in his ears (singing the highest note I could reach, Mariah Carey style)! When we arrived back in town we went to get tacos! PRAISE! What a great way to end our tip (Sunday-Tuesday). So I guess I will end this with the moral of my trip to la playa.... The moral of this story is... don't be a big do-do face because things don't go your way, or were how you expected. Try to see God in all your circumstances because he is good. He just might clear those cloudy skies for you if you let him!!! Adios! :) 

A Little of This, A Little of That

      Wow, so it has been awhile. But does that really surprise you? I didn't think so. Let me tell you about today. BOY WAS IT GOOD! OK, sooo every Thursday we have a women's Bible study at Sara's house. The ongoing theme throughout this week was God's provisions. I am only telling you this to explain more of my day, so it can make sense. Anywho, we had a great discussion, talked about certain points in the study, and prayed. OK flash-foward to tutoring....

      

      Today at Spanish tutoring, Nadia asked me how the Bible study went (Nadia is my tutor by the way. She is soooo nice! Did I tell you we go to Spanish tutoring Tues.-Fri.? Well, we do. ) I explained to her (which I am going to explain to you right now) that in the study we learned that when the Israelites were in the Desert for 40 years after they had been led out of Egypt by Moses God provided for them. They had food (manna & quail), God's presence (pillar of a cloud & pillar of fire), and clothing. Their shoes and clothes lasted them 40 years!! What brand were they because I want some shoes that will last me 40 years! Anywho, Nadia and I discussed how we have so much stuff and sometimes we feel like we don't have what we need or that we need more. But God knows exactly what, when, where, how much, etc. EVERYTHING that we need. We talked about how we sometimes struggle with stress or worry about our "needs", but God our provider knows what we need. Then we talked about how we can become accustomed to having God present in our life. That we can become so comfortable and have so into our routine that we don't truly appreciate God or the relationship we have with him. (I know this past year I have really been a little too comfortable with my little life in Abilene. I've felt  like I'm not as brave as I used to be, and have often felt like I'm not doing much for the big man upstairs.) Anywho... with all that said. The Bible study at Sara's and my Spanish conversation with Nadia was just wonderful! :) OK flash-foward to lunch... (I won't make it super long, even though it was great Sara!)

      So I ate lunch with Sara today. Every week we take turns eating lunch with Sara, so we can have individual relationships with her instead of always being in our little group. The food was phenomenal and my company was lovely. We had a lovely chat, but I won't get into all of that.

      OK here is where the super fun of the day comes in. (If you are bored at this point in my conversation with you please go take a break, get something to drink or eat (tacos), and finish this later. I just want to tell you everything so you can be part of my day, but its really hard to condense something great into something so small!) Tonight was our last LST party. (Let's Start Talking/Convivio for the church). It was just soo much fun. The theme was Vaqueros y Cowboys. We played games with stick horses and water guns. There was music playing, people sang, their was a Mexican dance, and a traditional Michoacán dance of the old people (baile de los viejitos). We had tons of pozole to eat. YUM! (ooo with avocados, lime, and tortillas! Heaven on earth every day as I eat Mexican food!) There was also a presentation of certificates and a small gift for those who completed there English studies with Let's Start Talking. Afterwards we helped clean up, and were on our way back home. 

      Well, that was my day in a nutshell. I could tell you everything in more detail, but that would just take too long! But trust me it was a good day. I am really excited because the awkward, not knowing anybody/I'm not confident in my Spanish phase is diminishing. I actually have more confidence in my Spanish, and I'm not so awkward around people because I am actually getting to know them.  I'm pumped because the people here are no longer strangers to me, but are becoming my friends and people I love to see and be around. So woo-hoo for relationships and not being so nervous! :)

      Thanks for taking a peak inside my life. I know I say this often, but I will try to write sooner than I usually do, but I do have a busy weekend ahead. Going to the Centro for Spanish tutoring, 4th of July fiesta, going to a mountain with the youth, go to church (which by the way I will be singing on the praise team in a few weeks! Too COOL! and an intern retreat en la playa (beach) (Hey don't judge me because it's at the beach! I'm going to see the Lord's beauty in a new way there!) ;) I do hope you each have a super day! Adios!