People are Messy

As I sit here trying to think about how to best describe the past few days in the right words it's challenging.

All I can come up with are these three simple words:

People are messy

We are a crazy emotional lot, sometimes easily offended, easily angered, and not as forgiving as we should be. We hurt easily, break easily and probably more often than we'd like to admit, we lose our way just as easily.

Just this past week I've encountered the postpartum mother, who is doing her best to keep up with all the little ones while crazy hormones do their thing in her body.

I've come across the friend who for whatever reason is more easily offended at this point in time and just needs to be loved, reassured, and maybe even given a bit of "tough love" to help them through to the other side of this.

I've been run over and completely thrown for a loop by a friend, who though they meant well, said some very hurtful things. And while God has graciously given me enough insight to know that what they said was fueled mostly by fear and selfishness, it still stings like slap to the face or a sucker punch to the gut.

And that's just to list a few of us messys that are out there. I could go on.

It makes me ask God, why do you continue to love us so much when we clearly don't deserve it? Why are You so patient with us??

And you know what he said to me?

One word:

Potential

He sees us not just where we are, or how we are. He sees our potential. He sees the awesome plans he has for our lives, plans to prosper us and not to harm us. Plans for a hope and a future (Jer. 29:11).

And while we're still mucking through our everyday muck He's right there loving us ever so patiently. Waiting for us to turn to him as our source of every need, physical, emotional, spiritual, or what have you.

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for loving us so much! Thank you for all the potential you see in me, and for not giving up on me. Thank you for promising that, You who began a good work in me, will be faithful to complete it. And help to know that even when it doesn't look like it from where I'm at, you're still working in me and in those around me! Help me to see the potential you see in others, so that I can love them like you do.

You are an awesome God.

Amen

C2 5k Day 1

My treadmill is broken. It's a very sad thing. I love my treadmill. I prefer to run in the privacy of my home as opposed to on the street or the gym. But alas, it's broken, and has been for quite some time. The good news though, is I have the part! I just need help fixing it.

Broken treadmill or not, I'm not going to let that stop me from my newest exercise goal routine. :)

Have you heard of the recent fad Couch to 5k? I actually heard about it over a year and a half ago, but never paid much attention to it.

For those that don't know, it's a 9 week program that gets you moving and running at least 3 times a week until you reach the goal of running 5k. It's really pretty cool. You can go out to iTunes and download free podcasts for each week. There's a narrator that tells you when to walk and when to run.

Today was my first day trying it. I was able to run 5 of the 8 one minute segments of running. It's not that great, I guess, for some, but for this couch potato who has been horrible in eating and exercise habits, I feel awesome about it. I know that by the end of this week I'll be able to run all 8 one minute segments without a problem.

My mental mantra this morning: I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. Jehovah Jirah my provider, He provides the strength I need to see this through to completion!

God is so good.

Can't sleep...I think I'll blog...

There are so many random thoughts rolling around in my head tonight as I lay here in my bed tossing and turning thinking about how early I want to get up and knowing full well the longer I'm awake the harder it will be to get up....

It's time to start making changes in my life. Spiritual, physical, emotional. The whole bit. And for the first time in over a year I feel ready, energized, and willing to start making those changes.

Over a year ago I lost my job. And that's when my "world" came crashing down. I absolutely loved my life up to that point. My job wasn't exactly stress-free but life outside of work was so satisfying that it made up for the sucky-ness of the job. But that's not the point.

When I lost my job I desperately tried to hang onto life as I knew it, even though deep down I knew the time I had left in the place I love most was quickly running out. Besides trying to process through the emotional crisis that comes with losing a job I also had to re-adjust living back in the states, in my parents house. Not only that the situation at home wasn't one I wanted to be apart of either, stresses with my brother and his family, a nephew born with a serious physical condition shortly after I arrived back. I was devastated.How could I have failed so miserably? What had I done to deserve this? WHY GOD WHY??? People telling me, "Well you know you're here for such a time as this...God brought you back for a reason" .... I knew he did, but at the time I could only respond with "God brought me back so I could be miserable?" You see, the ache in my heart was too great to be anything but hurt at God for the way he decided to move me.

This is the horrible condition I've been in for the past year. Hardly able to cope with life as I now know it. Feeling lost in a desolate wasteland. What the heck was God doing? Why the heck am I back here???

Until recently I haven't been able to see much past this huge pain in my heart. Each day just going through the motions, putting up a bold front, clinging to little shreds of happiness from my "former way of life". Honestly it's been miserable.

But God is really so good to me. He's been here with me through it all. Patiently waiting for me to stop asking, "Why???". Patiently waiting for me to turn to him for my comfort and not food or friends or tv or what have you. Patiently waiting for me to want to know Him more. Patiently. Waiting.

So here I am. Like waking up from a bad dream that lasted way to long. Here I am. Ready to stop asking "Why????" and ready to come before his throne of grace and let Him heal my hurting heart, ready to let Him show me what it is he is preparing me for, to show me what it is He desires most for me.

What has brought me out of this cloud I've been living in the past year or so? I think the fact that it's been a year and I'm still in the exact same place has something to do with it. I don't want to be stuck walking in the same sad cycle year after year. It's time to move on.

In January my pastor always calls the church to a fast. This too, I believe, has been key in shocking me back to reality. It's the little effort I made toward God that has started a slow snow-balling process into wanting more of him.

Since that fast, I can honestly say, my desire has been just to know God more. Slowly (I could probably even say VERY slowly) I've started making little changes in my daily habits. Trying to wake up a little earlier just to spend time with God. Reading my Bible a little more. Finding books that encourage me in my walk. Putting God first in my day before checking Facebook, my email, and chatting with friends online. Baby steps in the right direction.

And now I'm ready to take it a step further. I want to really know God more. I want to live a Spirit-filled, disciplined life pleasing and acceptable to God and God alone. I want him to be what I crave the most, more than friendships, more than family, more than ministry, more than food.

And that's my next step. Putting food in the right place in my life. As you can imagine, having my heart ache and break for so long the thing I've tried to comfort myself with the most has been food. Giving it a higher place in my life than God. God forgive me.

So here's my plan.

I just read the most amazing book, Made to Crave by Lysa Terkeusts. In her book is all about her journey to know God better as she practiced putting Scripture to use in the area of healthy choices in what she ate. She really didn't say anything new that I didn't already know, but reading that book, I believe, has been the catalysis for launching me further in my walk with God.

These quotes right here are just two of many that I have highlighted in the book:

"How do you grow close to God? I answered, "By making the choice to deny ourselves something that is permissible but not beneficial. And making this intentional sacrifice for the sole purpose of growing closer to God. After all, Jesus Himself said, "if anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" Luke 9:23"

"After all, remember the ultimate goal of this journey isn't about making me a smaller sized person but rather making me crave Jesus and His truths as the ultimate filler of my heart."

And so that's where I am, folks. I want to know God more. And I am, from this point on, making intentional sacrifices for the sole purpose of growing closer to Him.

This means, for a while, no more Dr. Pepper (0r other carbonated beverages), no more sweets, less of the high calorie, more of the good for you foods.

This also means a more dedicated approach to exercise. I am actually starting a running program couch to 5k. In 9 weeks I can be running 5k! That's only if I stay consistent on leaning on God to help me keep up a more disciplined lifestyle. And I know, he will as long as I'm willing.

I hope that if you happen to read this, you too are encouraged in your journey to know God more. I also hope that this is the first of many more posts that proclaim God's goodness to me in my life!

The Whatever Rule

Today I have been challenged by what I like to call the

"Whatever Rule"

found in

Philippians 4:8 (Amplified)

For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them].

What are you doing?

What are you thinking?

What are you watching?

What are you listening to?

What are you speaking?

Does it fit into the "Whatever Rule"?

What a challenge!

yikes! it's been a while!

Well, it's entirely too late to do any real blogging tonight!

I will leave a quick update, for anyone who might happen to still check this!

I no longer live in Mexico :'(

It's been really hard to come to terms with that fact, but God is so good. And so patient with me. I know he has an amazing plan, he's just waiting for me to come around and see life from his point of view--I'm getting there.

I moved back sate-side end of January of this year.

It's been hard finding a teaching job.

Thankfully I did find SOMETHING.

At a day care.

But it's totally where God wants me right now. So it's all good.

I recently took my test and became a licensed minister with the Assemblies of God.

I'm waiting on God to open the right doors as to which direction I should go next.

I love my family.

God is good.

That is all.

Hello. Goodbye.

It's really hard to believe that summer is already over! Well, living in Mexico it's practically always summer-time weather, but what I mean is that school is starting again already :( The kids come back on Monday!! Where has my summer gone??

I remember now...one week here in Durango "resting" two weeks in the states (1 wk in Texas, 1 wk in KC), one week back in Durango going out to the camp grounds everyday, two weeks of rest and cleaning the house, and then last week, in-service and another youth camp....yep that's how the summer went. So fast.

I have been singing more with the worship team. It has been somewhat of a challenge. I'm still not as confident in my abilities as I should be I think. But I'm going to keep at it and see what happens.

God has been doing some crazy good stuff around these parts, moving and working and bringing freedom to people's lives like never before.



One Thursday night I had a slumber party with some of the girls from church. It was pretty fun, and relaxing. It's neat to see how God brings people together at the right time.

Here is Grecia, Dulce and me .... like at 4am :-P
Also at the party were Oly and Alejandrina :)




School starts on Monday. My goal is to keep this more up to date (as always) we'll see if I can make that happen!

Tengo Miedo

Recently we've been having more drive by shootings, and shoot outs between the bad guys and cops.

This past week, on Wednesday actually, a friend and I were driving home from the movies when we passed a bunch of cops and a couple of taxis. Were like what happened here?!? But we kept on driving (you never stick around when there are a bunch of cops...and this is why). As it turns out not 15min before we passed, some taxis had a little fender bender. As they were sorting out the details with the police, two guys drove by and opened up a couple of rounds on everyone at the scene but mostly targeting the police. The police officers were shot in the back (and are ok I think) but the taxi drivers (three in all I think) were killed (two on the spot and the other one just died today) :-S. Here's the ironic part, the shooters where driving fast, hit a bump, flipped their vehicle and died....

Tonight there was another shooting in the neighborhood of a friend and the police wouldn't let people leave their houses.

Last week, when we were all out at the fair grounds for a concert, in the neighborhood where my church is located (and just around the corner from a different friend's house) there was a shoot out between cops and the bad guys. That night my friends couldn't return home cuz the cops had blocked off that entire area. I've driven past and seen the bullet holes in the building.

Crazzzy stuff.

Please pray for my safety, and the safety of everyone here in Durango. Mostly the danger is with the cops. They're the targets. However if you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time (like the taxi drivers).....

Oh my! How time flies!

Apparently I'm really bad at keeping up with this blog.....I think I lack inspiration due to too much busy-ness. Its really hard to believe that I've been living here in Mexico almost a whole year now (August 1 marks one year!! Wii!! Party at my house!)

This year has been more challenging than I could have ever imagined it to be. Full of ups and downs. I think the most challenging part has been my job. Unless you've been here, you really cannot imagine what it's like adjusting to not only living in a different culture but working in one. Yes, I work at an "American" school, but it's totally run by Mexicans :p. The challenges that I've met there were not something I expected. It's definitely been a chance to grow and change how I think.

More surprising than the challenges I have faced so far are the many blessings God has been throwing at me. I am incredibly blessed with an amazing church, full of so many good friends. I absolutely love living here and wouldn't change it for the world!! God has also opened the door for me to do something I've ALWAYS dreamed of doing, but I never ever in a million years thought it something I could possibly be any good at doing!! :p That is singing on the worship team at church! I still don't think I have a great voice, but what I do have I give to the Lord to use as he will :)

I think that's all the reflecting I'm gonna do for now :p

It's getting kinda late, and there's a bunch of dirty dishes in my sink that really should be washed!! hahaha

Let's see if I can stay a little more consistent with this blogging business!!

:)

Moments in Mazatlan

This past weekend I had a three day weekend. My friend from work Jeannine and I decided to plan a little get away...to Mazatlan! The idea was to spend two and a half days relaxing on the beach. Unfortunately, the grandmother of my best friend passed away as I was arriving to Mazatlan. After talking with my friend a couple times I decided to return to be there and help in any way. However, I did spend a pretty fun 10 hours in Mazatlan.

After a very long 8 hour trip on the bus, full of turns up and down the mountain, without much sleep, we arrived to find a very cloudy and rainy day in Mazatlan. As we set out to the hotel we told the rain: Rain, rain, go away! (It didn't so much work) When we arrived there it was too early to check in. We left our things in a secure area and went to explore and find some breakfast. We hadn't walked very far when I made a grand discovery:

Needless to say, I was thrilled. Of course I had to wait to get something because it wasn't open yet. So we walked and we walked and we walked and we walked some more. And it was starting to sprinkle, and then it was starting to rain and mist more....so we decided to stop for breakfast. The only place open was a well known restaurant called Panama. They had a lot of cakes and breads in the windows and the menu reminded me some of an Ihop.

After we ate, we decided to walk around a bit more, despite the fact that is was raining. We found our way to the beach just have a look-see and walk. I, of course, took off my shoes and walked in the water :). I managed to collect a few cool looking rocks. We started tiring of walking in the rain and decided to head back to the hotel to see if we could relax in the Jaccuzi while we waited for our room to be available. To our surprise we were able to check in early! We then went to the room and crashed for a couple of hours hoping that the sun would come out to play.

After a refreshing nap we decided to hot tub it since the sun was still not out completely. After 20 minutes in the "hot" tub (it really wasn't hot at all) I convinced Jeannine and Ana that we should go to the beach and that it wouldn't be too cold. There at the beach Jeannine just laid out on her towel, trying to convince the sun to come out. Ana came in the water with me for a little bit but was scared of the waves, so she stayed close to the shore. I went deep and had a blast jumping through the increasing waves.

All of these pictures I stole from Jeannine, because I forgot to take out my camera while I was there.

When we decided to head back to the hotel I called my friend in Durango to see how he was doing. I knew then after hearing his voice that I couldn't possible enjoy myself any further there in Mazatlan while he was suffering. Before heading back to the bus station I did manage to go to Starbucks!

This was the taxi we found to take me back to the bus station. The bus station was a good ten minutes away from the hotel, and on an open road, with fast cars. It was a little scary, but part of the Mazatlan experience, I'm told.

And those were my moments in Mazatlan.

Hello :)

Howdy there blog world! I bet you thought I forgot all about you. I haven't. Life's been crazy busy, and I forget to tell you about it. :s Sorry.

Let's see what's new in a nutshell? Mmm...
My days are pretty full. I teach Monday through Friday, usually having stay late until four for meetings, planning, and Spanish class. I'm currently taking guitar lessons at a little music school. Everything is in Spanish, and surprisingly enough I'm getting along fine in the classes. I've also been going to worship practice at church since the beginning of December. Azael the worship leader tells me it will be soon when I can actually start singing on Sunday mornings (he's been saying that since December, but this is Mexico and that's how it goes). What else? Oh yes, in the young adults group (we have our services every Saturday) I was made the treasurer. Also I'm part of the multimedia team and I help with the projector and easyworship so we have the words to the songs being sung every Saturday. :) Oh! and I recently helped a little (as much as I could) in a drama we put on for missions Sunday or something.

Last month the young adult group and the youth got together to do some ministery at the general hospital here. The youth put together one drama and we put together two human videos. In true Mexican form, we didn't practice/learn the videos until the day before/day of. But it went well. We also handed out food to the people who were there waiting to get in, or waiting to see family. Teams also prayed with anybody who wanted it. All in all it was a pretty good afternoon. We had a HUGE turn out of adolescents show up to help...
Here are some pictures of that day!

Here we are praying at the church before we head to the hospital.

Here are some of me being beat up by demons in the Wake Me Up skit and me being a demon in the Everything skit.

I love this last photo. All of us demons were trying to keep Ale from getting back to Jesus, and finally he comes in and stands there, and we're still trying to get to her but we can't...so powerful!

We're not all work and no play here. :p Quite the contrary :p For Valentine's Day the young adult had a special dinner. We all dressed up nice and exchanged chocolates. It was a fun time. Probably the best Valentine's day ever. Why? 'Cuz it was just fun! Not many couples...well in fact there were only two couples (out of like 40 people). :p Also there was a big emphasis on friendship and the guys taking care of the girls like princesses...with no strings attached. It was really a pretty cool message that was shared. I had a great time, despite the fact that I was feeling a little under the weather still.

Here are some photos from that night :p

Everybody...almost :)

Me and Pavel :)

Me, Janeth, Caro, Dani, Rafa, Jorge, Edgar, Juan Ramon

And that's all for now. I hope someone still reads this. :p

Goings and Comings

I've been meaning to post stuff for a while, but everytime I've been inspired to say something I've had other more important things to do! (Like get caught up on my grading!!!)

December has been a very busy month! There has been something to do every Friday so far! So many Christmas parties and Posadas! Unfortunately, I keep forgetting to take my camera to some things!! But, I do have some new pictures!

The first Friday of this month, I think it was, the school where I work gave us, the teachers and staff, a traditional Posada. At a posada you drink ponche (a type of hot fuit punch it's very tastey) you eat tamales and have a pinata! Also you re-enact the "Posada" which was when Mary and Joseph were going from place to place looking for somewhere to stay. They sing a song while doing this, and everyone in the party participates....it's very interesting!

It was a lot of fun breaking the pinatas at the posada......all the teachers diving for the candy and scrambling over it like little kids!!! Not to mention the sheer thrill of taking out all your agression and frustrations on those poor pinatas!! :p
Here you can see Julia really wacking it!! And everyone else taking their chances to get the candy!!

The next Friday there was another Christmas party that the parent association of the school threw for the teachers and staff. I didn't go to that one however, because I was previously invited to a different Christmas party with the ladies at church. I forgot to take my camera to that one!! :( But it was a lovely time! We had salad and spahgetti and apple pie, brownies and no-bake cookies for dessert! (I made the brownies and no-bake cookies! I've really started enjoying baking a bit more here....I don't know if it's cuz I'm board or if it's just my domestic side break free ;) )

It's really beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. My favorite part about Durango I think is how much they decorate for Christmas!! It really is the best! Two Sunday's ago there was an official lighting ceremony at Parque Guardiana. Pavel, his mom, a friend Jeannine from work, and I went to see the festivities. Later we met up with Griselda, another friend from work. Then Jeannine and Griselda left and we met up with Dani, and her sister, and Mariana. You can kinda see all the lights in the background. There were sooo many people there that night we decided to leave. We went to Cucurumbe, a local coffee shop. Pavel's mom left, but we met up with Juan Ramon and Edgar. It was really nice to be inside the coffee shop and drinking hot chocolate. Good times.

I went another time to Parque Guardiana to see the lights. This time I went with my friend Caro. It was soooooooo COLD!! We bought some yummy warm drink that I can't remember what it's called right now, but it's a very typical drink to have this time of year! It was very tastey. We walked through the park and enjoyed the lights. We also enjoyed walking through the town of Bethlehem they have set up....You can actually walk through some of the houses. It's very cool. I hope to go back to Parque Guardiana a couple more times before I head home for Christmas!!

"Oh little town of Bethlehem..."

One other event I want to tell you about is when Marcos Witt came to visit our church just for one day. He is a pretty well known in the Christian Latin community. He has produced several cds and I think he's the pastor at Lakewood's hispanic church. His parents were/are missionaries here to Durango, and he's now like over the church here that I go to. I don't really think he's all that big of a deal...but the people here were like crazzzyyy about him. I mean he's cool. Love his music, he's a great speaker....but man they were like idolizing him!! Caro made me take a picture with her and Marcos too!!





Last, but not least, here's a couple more photos of me and my friends! After the service Caro got really picture happy and was taking pictures of everyone.....so here are two of my favorites!

This one is me, Azael (the worship leader at church), his fiancee Giovanni (he just proposed like a week ago!! It was really cool how he did it too!) and Tonio.

This one is me, Pavel, Tonio, Juan Ramon, and Caro. God has blessed me with some great friends!!

I have another Posada on Friday, this one is during the day and with all my students. There might be another Christmas party of the youth at church Friday, and Saturday is a Christmas concert that a couple of my friends are playing in, and another christmas party possibly at church......

SUNDAY I COME HOME!!! wooo!
It's a 20hr bus ride from here to Houston....
but taking a bus is a heck of a lot cheaper than flying!
I'll try to post again before I leave for home!

Tengo Un Nuevo Sobrino!!

Congrats to Mathew and Katherine!!

On Friday, November 14, 2008, my new nephew, Ethan Paul was born!!! He came into the world weighing in at 8 pounds 14 ounces!!!

I really wanted to go home this weekend! I have a three day weekend and everything!! Pero no tengo dinero! MI VIDA Es IMPosSiBLe!! ajajajaj.....No te creas!

So, here are some pics, later I may get to skype with my brother and sister-in-law and the new little bunndle of joy.....that will have to do until I get to go home for Christmas!

Awe...what a cutie!!

Hailey and Noah meet their new brother Ethan Paul :)

Baby Ethan and his grandpa!

Copy Machine Maddness

Have you ever seen the movie Office Space? I must admit I have...once, I think.
We have a copy machine in our Elementary office, and it just can't get the job done. There's too many of us, and too many copys to be made. If it doesn't need paper, it needs toner. If it doesn't need toner it needs paper. If it doesn't need toner or paper it likes to jam paper in hard to reach places where you will inevitably get burned or inked. Needless to say we need a new, bigger one.
I mention the movie Office Space (as those of you who know the movie well know) because there is a scene where they take their copy machine, that's of the devil, and tear it to bits in a field with a baseball bat. I would post a clip of the video here, but the song, while totally makes the scene all the more hilarious, is not appropriate :p

Oh the joys of working in a private school in a different country.

On a side note, the the words on the copier were all in Spanish since the beginning of the year. Now, however, someone has changed them to English! When I tried to use it the other day it took me a second to figure out what it was saying!!! Because it was in ENGLISH!! ahahahahaa

People Fail, God Doesn't.

A couple of weeks ago God started speaking to me about security and insecurity. At the time I thought, "This is really good. Thanks God." I tried to apply what he had showed me, and life was great. Yesterday, I was again reminded of what he was/is trying to teach me. At the end of the day yesterday I was with some friends, and for me it turned out to be a horrible time. As I was thinking about everything that happened and how it could be avoided in the future, I was reminded again, ever so gently, to place my total trust and security in God, not others.

In my John C. Maxwell Leadership Bible, there are different devotional type pages and one of them happens to be on security. In this particular format the author is focusing on leaders, but I really think this applys to all of us.

Maxwell points out that we all have four basic needs: a sense of worth, a sense of belonging, a sense of purpose, and a sense of competence. If these are missing we feel inferior, insecure, illegitimate, and inadequate. There are two statements that he made that have really impacted me and got me thinking. They are, "We should never place our emotional health in the hands of another. We must release people from the expectation that they will meet our basic needs."

So many times I've either found myself, or seen others, trying to have friends, family, boyfriend/grilfriend meet the basic needs we all have. So many times I've walked away, or seen others walk away, from situations feeling hurt and disappointed because others failed to meet those needs. Or we walk away feeling hurt or disappointed because our expectations of another meeting those needs were too high.

How can we avoid feeling like this? How can we walk through life seeing people as God sees them, and without a pessimistic view of the human race? Because, after all, they will just fail us! The answer lies in Christ. If we will just center ourselves in Him and His word he will meet our every need so that we don't have to look to others to fill them. But we have to make that first step. We have to put our trust in Him. And we have to actively and willingly do this everyday...sometime moment by moment. God promises that if we will draw near to him, he will draw near to us. He also promises that he will supply our every need according to His riches in glory.

Have you been failed by someone? Have you walked away from friendships because they weren't meeting your needs? Turn to God, and see how amazingly and mightily he will provide for your basic needs.

Exam Weeks are of the devil. Seriously.

Next week, for all of the elementary school, is exam week. Just like in college, only it's the end of the first bimester ( and why it's called a bimester when there are actually five of them is beyond me). So, I have to have ready, not only an exam (one that needs to be created, cuz we are in the middle of the unit in English and Math), but I also have to have a review ready so the little kiddos know what to study. I have software to generate tests for both of these subject, which is AMAZING.

However, the computer in my classroom does not have a cd-rom drive, nor do the computers in the teachers' work area. That's ok. I have a laptop.

However, on my laptop I have Vista. Vista is compatible with next to nothing. That's ok. I talked to the Tech guy Ruben yesterday. He said he'd come this morning and intall it on my classroom computer.

However, he got busy and called to a meeting and forgot to tell the other Tech guy Mo to go to my classroom to install the progams.

Meanwhile, I have to keep teaching, and come up with something to tell my kids to study, even though, I know genereally what we will test over, but not enough details. And it could have waited one more day to get the study guides to them.....

However, I had a student tell me this morning at the beginning of the day she wasn't going to be there for the rest of the week and could she please have the work and the study guides.

It all ended ok. I finally got the programs to work on my classroom computer, and made the tests....even though it required me staying an hour and half after the time I should have been able to leave.


Exam weeks should be out-lawed.

Wii 4 Wiiiiiiiiirelessssss

I finally have my own home number and internet!! WOOO!!! It's only taken five weeks to get them to come and install it!! jajaja

I guess I have no excuse now for not keeping up with this here blog!

Let's see what's new? What's old?

Life is crazy busy, but good. My weeks are filled with teaching stuff, and extra meetings at school, and keeping up with grading and everything that goes with having 40 students. My weekends are usually filled with chill-axing with my friends from church. Life is good. I don't have much to complain about.

Random Tid-bits:
This past weekend, I decided to give my flea bag of a dog a bath, but since it's been rather cool and chilly here, I decided to let her dry in the guest bathroom. Poor Lola, she is such a fraidy-cat. Any loud noise, back fire, explosion she is immediately terrified, shaking and trying find the smallest crevece to crawl into. Well apparently something scared her while she was in the bathroom because some how she broke the hose that puts water into the toilet. I did not realize this until I was getting out of the shower and saw water in my room, the room next to mine a lake, and the hallway a river! When I opened the bathroom door there was Lola hiding in the shower soaking wet! Water was spraying everywhere. When I went to shut off the water, to my surprise, there was no handle and no way to shut the water off!!! So there I was, holding the end of the hose so more water would not continue to flood my upstairs, trying to figure out what I was going to do. I couldn't re-attach the hose. I was stuck. Finally I decided to make a dash for help, and luckily my neighbor, Bryan, was home! When he got to the door I was like: HELPP!! I HAVE WATER EVERYWHERE!! COME QUICK!! and then I dashed back upstairs. He followed and started to tell me just to turn the water off, when he noticed there was no handle....he quickly ran for some plires. There was soooo much water I called for friend, and co-worker, Jeannine to come help me mop it up (THANKFULLY I have all tile floors, and nothing was damaged or ruiend). It was quite an experience.

Today when I was walking Lola, we stopped in one of the little tienditas (store) to get some dog food and cat food. That's the nice thing about living here, I can walk just up the street and get some food for my animals, by the kilo or half kilo, and walk back home. I went 4 weeks on one tank of gas. :)
Anyway, when I was in the store, these two guys walked in, and they were speaking in ENGLISH! It was soo random. Apparently this guy Enrique is visiting family, and his spanish isn't too good, and he's looking for a job here in Durango. But more than anything it was WEIRD to hear them come in speaking English.

You should be jealous. I have a lady that comes to clean my house every Wednesday. She cleans MY WHOLE HOUSE. She sweeps and mops every room, dusts, cleans the bathrooms, empties my trash, does the dishes, AND DOES MY LAUNDRY for just $20 ($200pesos). Yes, life is definately good. :p

3MMM's for Mexican Sweet Bread!

This weekend started out kinda slow you could say. I didn't have any real plans...Friday a friend was supposed to text me to do something late, but they never did....soooo I spent the night reading up various books and ended it watching a favorite movie: The Sandlot. It was really a nice relaxing, quiet time to myself.

On Saturday I cleaned my WHOLE house!! From top to bottom, I picked up stuff, re-arranged furniture in the bedrooms upstairs, swept and mop'd all the floors! I also gave Lola a bath on the roof! (That is where the washing machine is, and a sink with a hose:)

Saturday night I went to the young adults service in my church. It was pretty good. There were about 15 of us there. When the young adults pastor started talking I was trying to focus hard on what he was saying. I thought I was doing pretty good, but apparently I was missing the jist of it, cuz from across the circle my friend Pavel was motioning to me asking if I wanted him to come over and help me. I was a little confused cuz he never has translated a service for me before so I shook my head no at him. Well as it turned out the pastor was asking if people had anything to share about what God was doing in their lives. Pavel tried to get me to say something like three times, and finally at the end he was like, "I know you have something to say!" But I didn't say anything, mostly because I really didn't think of anything until it was too late because I was busy trying to understand what everyone else was sharing.

After the service was over, Pavel and I waited for our friend Oly to get done with a meeting so that we could go and do something with her too. We decided to go get burritos from a great little place called Nachos. It's literally a cart on the street. But it's well known in Durango. They have the best burritos! One is 20pesos and it is sufficient to fill you up!
Hanging with Pavel and Oly is always an interesting time. They are a bit young, especially Oly, so sometimes I feel like I'm hanging with some kids from the youth group, but I like to be around them because they challenge me to practice my Spanish and help me learn new words and phrases.....of course the help comes often with much teasing and poking fun at me, but oh well, that's what happens when you learn a new language!! They are great friends and I am so blessed to have them.

Today I have church, and after church who knows! I know for sure there is a surprise birthday party for a co-worker at some point, but the planners of this event have mastered the art of planning like a Mexican, and told me they'd text me with the time later :-P. I love it. Like yesterday, I got a text that the young adults meeting would start at 6, but that was at five. I wasn't able to get there until 6:30, but that was ok, cuz they hadn't started yet! :D

I was re-reading an email I just sent to my mom, and I laughed at myself. My English was horrible!! Y'all will have to help me preserve my English!! Comment me, email me or call mee!!! And speak well, and properly tooo meee!!! hahahaa (I'm sure there's at least one or two of you who will be at least correcting everything mentally that I just said :p)

Hope everyone there in the great land of the USofA is going good. Miss you guys. You are always welcome to come and visit me!!

Sorry It's been so Long!!

Well, it's Monday night. Today was my first day to meet my students...all 42 of them (2 classes of 21--and actually I had two not show up--one from each). I am really excited about teaching here. And I can definately see myself staying here longer than my two year contract....but we'll just have to wait and see about that :p

I have been wanting to post but my internet connection has been less than reliable. :(

There has been soooo many cool things I've been experiencing since moving here two weeks ago!

I'll try to hit the highlights.

First, my mom drove down here with me and stayed for the first week. It was such a huge blessing to have her here!!

Second, my apartment!! WOW. If you haven't seen pics, they are posted on myspace. I was totally blown away at how blessed I was to get such an aaaammmmaaazzzing apartment! I've recently seen other places that some of the teachers have...and I really got blessed with a great place!

Third, my chruch. It's been an extra blessing having a church here and people here I already know and am familar with. I hope to be more involved at church in the coming weeks, but since my spanish is still limited it's hard.

Fourth, (why am I numbering again?) I live in the historic part of downtown. Every weekend at night there's some kind of live music playing in one of the many plazas located near my house, and I can hear the music wafting through my windows. Because of my location practically everythying is within walking distance. I even walk the three blocks to work everyday! I only need my car when I want to drive to church which is on the other side of town (like 15-20min tops---and that's considered FAR for here! ha) or if I want to drive to the mall/walmart (which is only 10min depending on traffic).

I love it here. The last I remember being this content to be in a place was when I was in college more than 6years ago! God has really blessed me and given me sooo many of the desires of my heart. It's incredibly overwhelming to think about. If you've been asking God for something, or you wonder if a life circumstance will ever change, hang in there. God is faithful. He hears you. Keep reminding him of his promises to you, and ALWAYS thank him for what he has done and will do!!

Some things you can pray about for me, if you'd like are:
-I need to find a good christian sister to share daily struggles with and to pray with....
-For Lola, my dog. She's really scared of all the city noises. She has been having a hard time adjusting.
- For me to be a light in the work place. For the first time I find myself not working in a christian environment and it's different, a bit of an adjustment for me. I want to share my faith with people, but at the same time I dont want to come across wrong, ya know?

That's all for now:)
I'll try to not take so long for my next post!

Back in Monterrey

Hola Todos!
Como estas!!
Estoy aqui en Monterrey otra vez! jajaja

Every year my parents and I take a vacation down to Guadalajara to visit my grandpa. This year my parents decided to drive down instead of flying...SOOOOOo I had them drop me off here in Monterrey so I could spend some time with my friend Dina :)

When I first got here, it was Saturday night. My parents and I had a bit of an adventure to find where Dina lives, but we made it. After they left me it was fine, but on Sunday I had a bit of culture shock, I think. Dina had to go to work so I went to church with her dad. This is the same church that I attended when I was here for my DTS>so nothing new really> but I started feeling like "WHAT AM I DOING HERE!!" "No ONE Understands WHAT I am SAYING!!" "HOW IN THE WORLD AM I GOING TO LIVEEEE IN MEXICO" hahaha.....

You know you can want something, and hope for something and know that it's really what you want, but there is that moment when you are like...are you sure this is what you want?! I had that moment on Sunnday....

In the midst of my sudden realization of the hugeness of my decision to move to Mexico, the peace of God came to me and reminded me of promises I had previously found in his word. I know coming far away from my home, from my comfort zone, from my family will be something difficult. BUT I also know this is my next step in life. And the rewards of being here will far out weigh those if I stay home in my comfortable environment. :)


Sooooo I've been having a little bit of fun here. Dina has been working every day except Monday....I have had a lot of time to do nothing.....but it hasn't been all bad. I've got to hang out with Dina's sisters. And I get to see Dina on her lunch breaks and at night, aaannnnddd I get to sleep next to herrrr!! hahaha

Right now I'm sitting at the mall where Dina works....just waiting for her to get done.....

I think on Saturday I will take the bus down to Guadalajara to join my parents who are already there.

New and Improved?

In case you didn't notice...I've changed things up a bit!!

I like my new background, do you? You'll probably have to look at it more than me!

Haha.

Well, my trip to Seattle Washington was very nice. We did a TON of sight seeing and took a bunch of photos...I added a slide show at the very top of this page...you've probably already looked at all the pics or are currently looking :-p

Seattle was beautiful. Loads of fresh beautiful flowers in bloom. We went downtown a bunch, went to scenic lookouts, took a Elliot Bay harbor tour, took a ferry to Bainbridge Island, stayed up in the Space Needle til the sunset, visited the original Starbucks, toured a very informational Flight Museum, saw a couple of octopuses at the Seattle aquarium, experienced a butterfly habitat at the science museum, shopped at the tourist trap call Pike Place Market, OH and went to my friend's wedding :)

It was a very full and busy time there, but I enjoyed it. I was, however, ready to come home.

The school year has come to an end. That means its time for me to look for another temporary job!! I have the rest of this week, next week and a week and a half at the end of July....anybody have any suggestions? I'm thinking I'll look into a temp agency tomorrow...

:)