BrunerAbroad

New Location!!

2012-01-22T15:50:00.001-08:00

Well, I've been AWOL for quite some time now.

I got married, got a job, got pregnant....I've been busy!

You can now find me (and my husband!) at crunchytiptons.blogspot.com

Thanks for stopping by!

Um...This is Adorable

2011-06-05T22:10:00.000-07:00

A few days ago we had some neighbors over to bake a cake. The kids took turns mixing the ingredients, stirring, and eventually, spreading the icing and sprinkling the sprinkles.

But while the cake was baking, we decided to entertain each other by singing songs. The kids sang just about every song they knew before they started making up songs.

We captured one of our favorites on camera:

Well darn.

The video won't load.

But I promise, it was adorable.

I'll try again another day. :)

Job Hunting!!

2011-05-17T14:36:00.000-07:00

You may be wondering what I've been up to since final exams.

Or maybe you're not wondering.

Either way, I'm going to tell you.

I've been looking for a job!

My degree is in math and I am 8-12 certified to teach in the state of Texas, so I am looking for a job, preferably near Fort Worth so Matt can stay at Southwestern.

Each job application takes me roughly 1.5-2 hours.

And that's without an essay!

It's just entering the same information over and over again. Like references. I'm going to make a document with all of that information on it so I can stop looking things up every time I fill out a new application.

I've emailed principals at almost every school/district I've applied at.

I've only heard back from one principal - he said he would keep my information on hand.

That's not very promising.

I heard back from one district - "the position you applied for has now been filled. Thank you for your interest."

I've also heard from quite a few people that I should avoid the district I currently live in at all costs.

One guy told me his wife left the HR department crying and said if she had to teach there, then she wouldn't teach at all.

Wow.

So that's what I'm up to - searching, emailing, applying.

Say a prayer for me!

Whew!!

2011-05-10T15:03:00.000-07:00

My last post was May 2nd...just a week ago but it feels like forever!!

I finished up my final papers of the semester (a few small ones and then two large ones: an exegetical paper on 1 Peter 3:13-17 and a research paper on Arab/Islamic contributions to mathematics), took my final exams, and got busy working some more!

I picked up a second job about a month ago, tutoring math through a local agency. So far I only have one student for one hour a week, which is fine by me!! And this weekend I worked 44 hours at the restaurant from Thursday night through Monday night. I would have worked more (on Friday) but I did a favor for another server by working her food-running shift instead of a floor shift (meaning hourly pay but no tips and less time) so that she could go to the Mavericks game.

I'm pooped!!

My legs felt like jell-o this morning from being on them so much this weekend.

With the extra Mother's Day business I think we all felt the same. Customers had a two hour wait on Sunday afternoon! I got in at 3 and stayed until 11, but many of the servers arrived at 10:30 or 11am and stayed until 9:30 or 10pm. If I hadn't had church, I would have been one of them. They said that by 11:30 the restaurant was already packed, and when I arrived at 3 the patio was FULL of customers. Most of us made a lot of money (I fared pretty well, averaging $20/hr) but some servers were sorely disappointed. That was me last year, so I was SO very thankful for my successful Mother's Day shift.

Now I've got two days to rest and work on wedding preparations.

Task 1: Guest lists.

Task 2: Shower lists.

Task 3: Invitations.

Task 4: Centerpieces.

Task 5: Bouquets.

Also, I'm applying for teaching positions. YIKES!!

With all the budget cuts, right now is a tough time to find a job teaching in Texas. But thankfully, I'm bilingual and I'm math. The two things they need most.

And I can hardly wait to start SEWING again!!

I bought a sewing machine last fall and have made a table cloth and a shirt and a half, and I've got what I need to get started on two dresses and a skirt. I'm dying to let my creative juices flow!!

In other news, our photographer posted some of our engagement photos:

www.jillianzamorablog.com

Matt and I are thrilled with the results.

She is doing the wedding as well and a post-nup shoot (me in my dress, him in a tux). I can hardly wait to see those photos, too!! We are so pleased with our choice for a photographer!!

Another Rough Work Weekend

2011-05-02T15:34:00.000-07:00

This weekend was...not enjoyable.

Every time I go to work I have to remind myself that God is the one who provides for me.

Going into work this weekend I knew, "I need to make a lot of money." Rent is due, health insurance is due, I recently paid my car insurance, I'm going to the optometrist this week, I joined a gym (my seminary gym benefits expire this week and LA fitness was having a promotion), and the list goes on.

Sometimes being an adult just isn't fun. Everybody wants to take my money away.

Working as a waitress has been a test of faith, a challenge, and a reminder to trust God for even basic necessities.

I worked an extra 8ish hours this weekend and made about $100 less than I do on an average weekend.

On Saturday, one table left me $0 on a $87 tab.

Regardless of whether or not a table tips me, I still have to pay 3.5% to tip pool.

Every other table was just in a 10% kind of mood. If I had given them poor service, I would have understood.

But it was a SLOOOOWWW weekend, meaning I gave GREAT service, because I had less customers vying for my attention.

It was just one of those days.

Then to top it all off, my last table tried to get out of the mandatory gratuity.

I passed out the tickets and she said, "excuse me miss, but I see the gratuity is already included here."

"Yes ma'am, there is a mandatory gratuity for parties of 8 or more."

"But there were only 4 of us when we got here."

Which, by the way, is not true. There were 5 of them when they got there.

"Yes ma'am, but there are 12 now. Would you like me to get the manager for you?"

"No. But why should we have to pay gratuity when there were only 4 of us?"

"The reservation was for 10 ma'am. Would you like me to get the manager?"

"Yes, I think so."

She then tried to convince the manager that despite having 12 in the party, and despite having made a reservation for 10, they were really only a party of 4 (but actually 5) because their friends arrived late, after they had already ordered their food (she said after they got their food, but actually they had only ordered when their friends arrived). Their friends only came because they called them and told them to come here instead of Razoo's.

The manager explained to her that regardless of when they arrived, they were still one party of 12 and Laura took good care of them throughout the evening.

She then claimed that she didn't even know the other people at the table.

"Ma'am, you just told me that you called them and told them not to go to Razoo's. But regardless of whether or not you know them, you are still a party of 12."

Another lady chimed in.

"She over charged us. It says here, 'two large orders of alligator.' We didn't have two large orders of alligator!"

"What did you have, ma'am?"

"We had an alligator for an appetizer, and then he had an alligator for his meal. But it wasn't large."

"Ma'am, the alligator may be served on a small plate but it is a 7-ounce portion, and is considered a large."

"I don't even like this key lime pie. It's the worst I've ever had."

"Well ma'am, you're not paying for the pie because it is your birthday, but if you would like I can get you another free dessert."

In the end, the table paid the gratuity, but only after trying everything they could to get out it.

And the whole time I stood back from a distance, watching, thankful that I have such a wonderful manager who will defend me in the face of such selfish, stingy, and heartless customers.

Moments like that make me disappointed with humanity.

I had to go back to the table and take their credit cards. I had to smile at them. I had to wish her a happy birthday. I had to tell them to have a lovely evening.

After they left, I made sure to pray for them.

To be so cruel can only mean they lack the love of God in their lives. They love not, because they don't know true love themselves.

How can we, who have been loved by God so much, love others so little???

Today I deposited my money and after looking at my bank account, saw just how God, not those stingy customers, is the one who takes care of me.

I shouldn't have had enough money, but somehow I did.

Week after week, God shows HIS goodness, HIS faithfulness, and HIS generosity, even when my customers don't.

Somehow, it always works out.

Somehow, I always have enough.

God has been so good to me, and I'm blown away.

The whole time the humiliating episode was going on, I stood there thinking, "whether they end up paying it or not, God will take care of me."

And he did.

Why I Need a New Job

2011-04-19T19:59:00.001-07:00

On Saturday at work I cried.

At a table.

In front of the customers.

I just stood there, biting my lip, tears running down my face, my cheeks turning red.

I said "I'm sorry."

They told me to sit down and have a drink with them.

I've cried at work before, but never in front of a customer.

But these customers...not the ones I cried in front of, but the ones at the table next to them, were making my life very difficult at that moment.

And let's be honest: it was that time of the month when I get a little emotional anyway.

So let me vent a moment, and take this as an opportunity to learn about customer etiquette at a restaurant.

The table of 7 sat down.

I took their drink orders. Almost everybody order an alcoholic beverage and a water.

I said, "okay, I'll get those drinks right away for you."

The computer to ring in the drinks is right next to that table, and there is also ice and water and tea, but the bar is on the other side of the restaurant. My plan was: ring in the bar drinks, get them each a water and say "I'll be right back with your drinks from the bar", go get them, and pass them out.

The whole ordeal should have taken approximately 3-4 minutes.

But as I was ringing in the drinks, each person at the table took a turn calling me away from the computer to ask me questions.

Now, keep in mind, as this is going on, I'm always standing within 5 feet of the table.

Then this guy says to me, "can you get me my water?"

Now, when you see that your friends haven't even allowed the waitress to leave the table to get drinks for ANYBODY, it's not really reasonable to expect that she's going to have your drink.

That was the story for the rest of the night.

Before I would even leave the table, they wanted to know where their: drinks, bread, bread plates, appetizers, extra butter, tartar sauce, drink refills, entrees, etc were. I would set something down in front of them and immediately they would say "we're going to need some ___". Usually it was in my other hand, or on the tray next to the table.

For example, at one time (close to my breaking point) they asked me for some tartar sauce and butter.

I came back with it in my hand, on a tray with their drink refills as well.

I reached the table, they complained that they were missing a salad (why didn't they tell me that when they asked for everything else?? They were already aware of it!) and then the water guy snapped at me that they still needed tartar sauce and butter.

It was in my hand.

IN MY HAND.

When the waitress has something IN HER HAND, please don't snap at her that you still need it.

She's aware.

That's why it's IN HER HAND.

He had just asked me for it two minutes earlier. Which is why I was GONE for two minutes...I went to GET THE THING YOU ASKED ME FOR.

And now it's IN MY HAND.

The WHOLE night was like that. Over and over and over again.

And to add to it, one lady flat out didn't like her food, the trainee delivering the food didn't read the ticket and forgot the salad and several other items, and another lady said her food was overcooked, so I had to get it recooked.

Now, if your food is overcooked, that's a valid complaint. Your food should be perfect when you're paying $35 for a single entree.

But don't get mad at the waitress when the kitchen isn't cooking fast enough.

And don't ask the waitress why she doesn't have your drink yet when you just sent her to the kitchen with the food that you didn't like and didn't mention that you wanted another drink (a non-refillable drink, that is).

All the while, I had a table of 10 high school and college kids that just could not coordinate when they wanted their beer refills (for the over 21 college guys). Every time I went back to the table, somebody else needed a refill.

At least they weren't rude about it.

I finally delivered the re-cooked food to the first table, only to face the glare of a very unhappy woman who waited too long to get her food that the manager was already giving to her for free.

I was sweaty and tired. I had been running back and forth across the restaurant for over an hour for these two tables, and putting up with the most extreme impatience I have ever seen from a group of adults.

Then the college guys flagged me down.

They asked for two shots of Patrón.

I started crying.

I think I scared the high school girls silly. It must have seemed so out of nowhere. They had no idea what was going on at the other table. But they were the ones who had to watch me cry.

I stood there for quite a while trying to get myself under control. They told me to take my time, they were so sweet.

I went and put in their order, a manager yelled at another server to get me a glass of water, another manager brought me the lady's entree that she now wanted boxed up (they flagged her down, of course, because they couldn't wait two minutes for the waitress to stop crying) and she put in the massive food order that was still looming over me for the group of 10. I went to the kitchen, wiped my face, drank some water and cried my little eyes out.

Then I boxed up the food, put on a fake smile, and delivered the drinks and the boxed entree.

They were suddenly very apologetic.

Both tables left me an excellent tip.

I was thankful for the money, and how God provides even when the circumstances appear dim.

But I also look forward to the day when I can say "I used to be a waitress," and not "I am a waitress."

102 Days!!

2011-04-12T10:55:00.001-07:00

That's right, in 102 days Matt and I will be getting married! We're almost into the double digits...

Wedding planning is...over-whelming. I'm so thankful to my mom and sister for all of their help. It wouldn't be so much if I didn't also have to work at Pappadeaux, continue with my school work, look for a full-time job (teaching math! yay!), and maintain some degree of relationship with my soon-to-be-husband, family, roommate, friends here at seminary, college friends, friends in Spain, etc. Sadly, many of my relationships have suffered as a result of a never-ending ridiculously hectic schedule. It breaks my heart to miss out on so much of their lives, and know that there's not much I can do about it. Life in Spain wasn't like this. Distance and time zones were the only things that separated me from my friends here in the US, and maybe their busy schedules, but in Spain...ahh...life was so much less stressful. I mean, they have a two hour nap-time built into their day! They stay up late, they go out on the streets, they talk to their neighbors, they have a MILLION work holidays! They don't live to work in Spain. They work to live.

Enough about that. It's making me sad.

I only have two papers left and then final exams, and I will be finished with my last semester (for now) of full-time seminary! As much as I would love to continue being a full-time student, somebody's got to pay the bills! And, my time has run out to fulfill the requirements of my college scholarship, that is, to teach in a high-needs public school in Texas for 2 years within 6 of graduation.

So, I am pushing forward and writing my Greek exegetical paper today! I've done almost all the research (which I will finish in about 30 minutes right now), and all I have left is to put it all in writing! I don't expect it to be an easy task, but at least it's not as terrifying as it was last semester.

AND...

I've lost 10 pounds! I downloaded an application for my phone called "MyFitnessPal" and started using it about a month ago to keep track of my calories each day. I tell it basic data about myself, and it tells me how many calories I should eat each day to reach my goal, losing no more than 2 pounds per week. And it has worked! Each week I've lost right around 2 pounds!

The only sad part is that the jeans I bought about a week before starting this are now too big. But so long as I use a belt, they will suffice until I can pick up a few extra shifts at work to buy a new pair (after finals, of course).

Also, I bought a book called "Taking Charge of Your Fertility."

I won't get into all the details of it in this post, but I will say that I HIGHLY recommend it to all women, whether they are sexually active or not, trying to get pregnant or avoid pregnancy. It will teach you so much about your body and how it works, and how to read the signs that your body gives you every day. It's a huge book, but it's a surprisingly easy read. I read all the parts that interested me (which was most of the book, but specifically how my body works, how to read the signs and keep track of them, how to not get pregnant without using birth control) by reading for just 30 minutes a night over a period of about a week. The rest of it I'll pick up to use as a reference when needed.

I'll probably put up another women-only post about why I'm choosing not to use hormonal birth control, but not now. I don't have the time to dedicate to it, and I don't want to scare away any of my male readers (all two of them).

I'm super excited about everything I've learned in the book, but Matt is a bit grossed out by it all. I guess I can understand that. It made me say "eek" at first, but now I recognize it's just part of the beautiful and amazing way that God made our bodies to work!

That's it for now. Time to work on some Greek!!

SunBelt Football

2011-04-08T08:29:00.001-07:00

My fiancee, Matt, recently started a blog about SunBelt Football.

Last week he had a phone interview with the head coach of Middle Tennessee State University, which he posted on his blog in two parts. Tomorrow, he's going to the UNT Spring Scrimmage and will be writing about that on his blog.

Check it out at sunbeltfootball.blogspot.com!

Mice Mice and More Mice!

2011-04-08T07:58:00.000-07:00

Remember how I said the mice were gone??

Well...not quite.

I left out some mouse traps just to be safe.

Then I had to go buy some more.

In the past two weeks, I think we killed 5 mice.

Every time it's so pitiful! They're kinda cute, actually, so it's pretty traumatic to watch them die.

But...

We finally got the white one!

That elusive, mysterious white mouse finally got himself trapped!

So we called pest control again and it they found some holes in the baseboard below the cabinets and filled them up, then found another gap in the water heater closet and filled that up.

However, my guess is that there are holes somewhere else and we're just not yet aware of it.

So I'm keeping the mouse traps out.

And I'm buying more.

Yuck.

OMG.

2011-04-04T20:45:00.000-07:00

The cutest thing ever happened yesterday.

And sadly, I don't have any pictures to prove it. :(

Matt stopped by my apartment to hang out for a while. As I was walking him out, a little Nepali boy came running up the stairs.

"Lala!!!" (that's code for "Laura!!!")

He flung his arms wide open and gave me a hug. Suddenly we were surrounded by 5 little Nepali children, speaking rapidly in Nepali followed by "Okay?"

It's a good thing Matt speaks Nepali!

After Emily gave each of them a cookie (Girl Scout - Thin Mints) they walked Matt and I downstairs and I pried the children off of Matt and the hood of his Jeep so that he could go home.

Before I knew it, they were climbing on me!

I had one child in each arm, and several others climbing up my legs, trying to reach my arms.

I told them I had to go, because I needed to study. Does a four year old understand what it means to have to study??? Does a four year old Nepali child with an English vocabulary of 50 words know what it means to have to study?

Not in the least.

Among all the yelling and laughing, I heard one small boy saying over and over, "ABCD! ABCD!"

I said, "you want to sing?"

"Yes! Yes! ABCD!!"

So I said, "okay, let's sit down" thinking we would go sit on the steps.

But they just plopped down in the glass covered grass (there are always broken beer bottles and all kinds of dangerous objects hiding around our apartment), so I said, "the heck with it!" and sat down too as we began to sing the Alphabet Song.

I sang, and they sang along, throwing in letters where they knew them and interesting sounds where they lacked the letters. Most of them couldn't say "Now I know my ABC's..." so they just mumbled something and cheered and clapped when we finished.

Next thing I know, half of us are singing another song and the other half are running around trying to play "Duck Duck Goose."

Of course, I was the goose, but what could I do?? A child sat in my lap! I couldn't get up and run without throwing somebody off of me.

Next thing I know, there's a tiny little boy on my shoulders.

Then P*, my 4 year old neighbor, decided she wanted on my shoulders, but in order to climb up there, she had to get the first little boy off.

Meanwhile, someone is singing and another child is still trying to continue playing "Duck Duck Goose."

INSANITY!!

Finally I say, "Okay, it's time for me to go home."

But not just yet.

Little boy wants to play another game. He explains to me the rules of this game in Nepali, as he puts his hand on a tree, points to another tree, and then points to his toe.

What was that, sweetie?

I didn't quite catch that last bit.

Again, more Nepali, pointing, and then he puts his hand on his toe.

He wants to exercise? We did some jumping jacks a few minutes ago....maybe he's wanting to stretch now?

So I put my hand on my toe.

Then he says, "ready set go!"

AAAHHHH....I see.

"Race! Race!" the other children yell.

Homework can wait.

I touch my toe and wait for him to say "ready set go!" and take off running with the other children.

We touch the tree, I run back and touch the other tree only to see that all the children ran to the big rock instead.

I guess I missed the part about the rock.

So I ran and touched the rock, and then the kids all run back to the other tree again.

All the while, a neighbor from across the parking lot is watching, and laughing.

From his seat on a couch...next to the dumpster.

I took this picture of him after I went inside. I didn't want him to see me so I had to be sneaky and quick...

::sigh::

I love life at Lavender Pines!!

The Ring! And other things...

2011-03-30T18:59:00.000-07:00

Here it is....a picture of the ring!!

I promise I was wearing a cute dress the night he proposed. I knew it was coming, so I had to dress up! But it was so cold, I had to put on a sweater and scarf AND coat!

Isn't it pretty? The diamonds are the ones my dad gave my mom. They were taken from two separate rings, and Matt had them put together into one new ring. He did a great job! And I love that the diamonds are so sentimental. :)

In other news, a few days ago I heard my neighbors outside the window. They're just so darn cute I had to get a look, so I opened my door and this is what I saw:

The bear is bigger than the girl! So of course, we invited the girls in to come play. Emily brought back a basket of toys after Spring Break so now we have things for our neighbor kids to do when they come over, especially if we need to study!

These two girls are so sweet. P* is the little one, and B* is the bigger one. There are a lot more girls in their family but these are the two we see most often. The day we moved into our apartment in December, B* asked me as I was unloading things from my car, "can I help??"

She helped me carry a small rug into the house, and she was so thrilled to have been able to help. Then little P* came running up. She wanted hugs, of course, but then she wouldn't let go! The fist few times we saw her we thought, "that little girl is a wild child!" But the more we've gotten to know her the more we've seen just how sweet she is. She's calmed down a bit now that the newness of our big move has died down.

After the girls played for a while, we told them that we needed to study so they would have to leave. Emily went to work and I hunkered down on the futon to work on a research paper. A few minutes later, I heard knocking at the door.

*tap tap tap*

I ignored it.

*tap tap tap*

I ignored it again.

*tap tap tap*

"Miss Laura!! Miss Laura!! I have something for you!"

Of course, I had to open it.

And there was tiny little P*, with something in her hands.

"I have a flower for you!"

"Oh, thank you!"

I reached out my hand to take what I thought would be a daffodil, or some other weed-like flower from down by the stairs.

Nope. Not quite.

Instead, her hand was full of actual weeds. Just the weeds. No flower. Just green, leafy, prickly weeds.

She was so proud of herself. I gave her a hug and sent her away. I walked towards the trash can but stopped thinking, "what if she asks what I did with them?"

So instead, I put them on the coffee table.

Sure enough, two minutes later, she was back. With more weeds. And she wanted to know what I had done with the first weeds.

Thankfully, I was able to show her exactly where they were.

It's always an adventure living here! From weeds, to giant teddy bears, to Shakira dance parties with 10 little kids and spontaneous crafting...there's so much to tell!!

Speaking of which, does anybody have any craft/quilting/sewing supplies they could donate? Two of the Iraqi ladies here told me that they want to do something to contribute to their family income. They can sew and make all kinds of things, purses, decorative items, etc, but they don't have any supplies. Surely we can get something together, get these ladies busy crafting with their endless hours of free time, and sell some stuff on Etsy.com or some other venue!

Ideas? Suggestions? Donations?

Good News!!

2011-03-23T14:49:00.000-07:00

I'm engaged!!!

That's right...after one year and one month of dating my very first boyfriend ever, I am officially gettin' hitched!

The big day is July 23rd. FOUR MONTHS!!

YIKES!

I know what you're thinking: "Are they crazy???"

Well, quite possibly, yes.

But don't worry, I already bought my dress. ;)

Matt told me he wanted to marry me a while back...we discussed for quite some time if and when and were we sure and were we really really sure and all of that good stuff.

Finally we decided, "okay...sure!"

When did we want to get married?

Why, over the Summer, of course! I'll probably start teaching full-time in the Fall (if I can find a job amid all these budget cuts!) so we wanted to get hitched before.

BUT....Matt and I have some friends that had a 3 1/2 month engagement last year.

Matt thought a 3 1/2 month engagement was normal.

He thought planning a wedding was easy.

He thought he could just take his time, put a ring on my finger, and VOILA! we'd get married three months later.

When I found out what he was thinking, I tried to keep my freaking out to a minimum.

He didn't even have a ring yet!

In January!

So I asked him, "do you want to get married in the Summer? Or would you rather wait until December?"

He said "Summer, for sure."

"Are you sure you want to marry me?"

"Yeah, I'm sure"

"Okay, then do you mind if I go ahead and buy a dress?"

"Sure."

That's more or less how it went down.

So my mom came to visit, we tried on dresses, I bought one, and they told me it would be ready mid-June at the latest.

Good thing I went shopping early!! I would have been so sad if I couldn't get the dress I loved in time for the big day!!

And it's really pretty, too. :)

I like it so much. :)

I want to wear it every day. :)

And frolic through a field of wild flowers in it. :)

That's it for now!

Back to school work!

It's been nearly impossible to focus on school while trying to plan a wedding. Ahhh!!!!

No More Mice!

2011-03-08T12:31:00.000-08:00

No more mice!!

Well, sort of.

The first time we found out that we had mice, we knew they were coming from under the sink.

So pest control came, put out some poison, and filled in the holes under the sink with some foamy stuff.

So instead of coming out of the sink, they started coming out of the water heater closet. It's a cheap, poorly constructed apartment so the sheet rock in the closet doesn't entirely meet up with the wall and there is a gap on both sides of the closet wall.

We tried several kinds of mouse traps and found that the most successful traps are the sticky ones. They're not messy and mice can't be sneaky and get around them...they just get stuck!

In total, we killed FOUR MICE in ONE WEEK!! GROSS!!

So we figured if they could do something about the holes under the sink, surely they could do something about the gaps in the closet.

And they did!!

And we haven't seen a mouse since!

WOO HOO!!!

I now feel safe to walk around my apartment barefoot at night, and leave my bedroom door open throughout the day.

AND as an added bonus, we think the poison they put out for the mice (which is supposed to dehydrate them) has killed the roaches. I don't know, but isn't it curious that no matter how many times they sprayed for roaches we just couldn't get rid of them, but once they put out mouse poison they suddenly disappear???

Seriously...I've seen one roach in the past week!

ONE!! And it was a baby!

I used to see one roach every hour!

Emily hasn't seen many (or any) roaches either.

DOUBLE WOO HOO!!!

Life is good and pest-free right now, but I don't expect it to last for too long. After all, I live at Lavender Pines, the third-world refugee camp in the middle of the Metroplex. And what an adventure it is!

Ice Cream and Mice

2011-03-01T11:40:00.000-08:00

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man [or woman, in my case] I gave up childish ways. - 1 Corinthians 13:11, ESV

Do you remember when you were a kid, the excitement you felt every time you heard the sound of the ice cream truck?

In my neighborhood, it usually came around 5 or 5:30 pm, not long after my parents came home from work.

Whether I was inside the house or out playing in the neighborhood, I would hear the truck while it was still far off, run to my parents and beg for money to buy just one ice cream, just this once.

Usually they said no, but on a very few occasions, the conceded and gave me a dollar or two to buy one of those Tweety Bird ice creams with the gumball eyeballs. Other kids liked the Mickey Mouse ice cream, but Tweety Bird was the favorite of my daddy and I both.

If my parents weren't home, or if they said no, I would scour the house looking for lost change. Under the couch, under the cushions, behind the bookshelf in my bedroom, in the laundry room...I knew all the secret places to find lost quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies. Then I would take what I had found and run to the truck, no matter how far down the street it had gone by this time, and drop my coins on his tiny little counter and find out what I could buy with my change. Usually all I could afford were those white powdery candy cigarettes, but I was happy to get anything from the ice cream truck no matter what it may have been.

I loved the sound of the ice cream truck so much that I asked my mom to buy me a piano book so I could learn to play "The Entertainer", the theme song of our neighborhood ice cream truck, on our old piano.

She did, and I'm quite sure she regretted it.

After I grew up I lost interest in the ice cream truck. Every now and then I would hear it and recall the memory of past excitements, but usually I was at after school activities, or youth group, or a friend's house, and the ice cream truck faded into the distant past of my childhood.

Until recently.

Now that I live in an apartment complex full of little children, I once again hear the ice cream truck pass by daily.

It comes every day around 3.

Remind me never again to be home at 3.

The sound drags on for one to two hours, depending on how many children come running.

He circles the complex over and over, parking outside our side window first, and then moving to the other side.

Just when I think he's gone, he comes back around again.

The song is no longer "The Entertainer" but some awful chiming tune that repeats over and over and over again, usually when I'm trying to study.

After it plays through once, this awful lady's voice says cheerfully, "Hello!"

At first I thought that the ice cream truck was driven by a woman, and she would greet the children as they came running towards her.

Then I realized it was just a recording, and it's probably some smelly man driving that thing as it goes on and on for hours.

What used to be music to my ears and excite in me so much happiness and emotion now has the opposite effect. I dread the time of day that the truck comes by. I intentionally try to avoid being home at 3pm.

And yet it still brings those little children so much joy. They still go running to the truck, and leave with their mouths and hands sticky and too much sugar in their blood. And of course, I can't begrudge them the same happiness that I used to feel every day around 5pm.

AND NOW FOR THE MICE!

Last night at 2:47am I awoke to the sound of a mouse trap going WHACK!

I thought, "we finally got that little white fella!"

Until I got up and saw it.

It was grey.

How many of them are there?? How long must this go on?

And to make matters worse, when I opened the water heater closet to get the broom out to sweep up his little body, I saw ANOTHER tiny mouse go running into the crack in the closet wall!!

AAAHHH!!!

I'm terrified of the night I wake up to find them running all over my bed.

AAAHHH!!!

Dead Mouse

2011-02-28T20:15:00.000-08:00

The other day Emily and I woke up to find a mouse in the mouse trap.

WONDERFUL!!

Except...

The mouse I saw was white.

This mouse was brown.

Uh oh.

There's a Mouse in the House!

2011-02-22T21:26:00.000-08:00

The first time we walked into our new apartment, one thing was obvious: roaches.

The first time we slept in our new apartment, something else was obvious: a rodent.

We could hear it scratching in the walls, crawling in the ceiling, and rummaging through the bottom cabinet.

We made sure to keep the cabinet doors closed so that it couldn't get into the house, and when we realized that there was a gap in the sheet rock in the hot water heater closet, we made sure to keep that door closed as well.

And then, two nights ago, I came home around midnight to find the water heater closet door open.

Oh no!!

How could we?? Who did it?? Was it me?? Was it Emily?? WHY???

I closed it, hoping that the rodent of unknown species had not escaped.

And then, yesterday, as I stood in the living room ready to practice my violin, I saw it.

A tiny little white mouse running along the wall.

I nearly jumped but had to stop myself from doing anything drastic with a valuable stringed instrument in my hands.

I put my violin away, put on some shoes, and grabbed the broom in hopes of sweeping the creature out the front door.

Needless to say, I was unsuccessful. That little guy is fast!

So, as much as I hated to do it, I bought mousetraps.

It's so cute. I hate to kill it. But it leaves me no choice.

So now we wait.

And watch.

Poor little mouse.

Snow Days!

2011-02-16T20:08:00.000-08:00

Recently, we had FIVE, yes, FIVE snow days!!

That may not be such a big deal in Massachusetts, North Dakota, or Ohio, but in TEXAS that is HUGE!!

So what did we do?

We had snowball fights!

We made snow angels!

We made little snowmen!

And of course, we studied.

It really was wonderful though, because we had plenty of time to catch up on school work, and spare time to visit neighbors, play with the kids in the apartment complex, and enjoy living at Lavender Pines*

The day before the snow was playing with the Iraqi family that I usually visit, when we saw that there was a little girl in the window of an apartment nearby, watching us. I waved for her to come out and play with us, and after a little prodding, she eventually did.

So on the snow day, my Iraqi family said, "let's go get our new friends!" So we knocked on their door and assured them that the snow wouldn't hurt them, and finally convinced them to come out and play. They weren't shy about joining in the snowball fights!

Then I taught the little girls how to make snow angels:

Our snowman was pretty pitiful, but we had so much fun making it:

We could hardly believe how much snow we got! Remember, this is Texas!

It was such a blessing to spend so much time getting to know neighbors, healing relationships between children of different ethnicities (there's a longer story there), introducing Iraqi Muslims to Iraqi Christians, praying for healing for a family in need, and sharing Christ with our neighbors!

Praise the Lord for snow days!

*Not the real name :) I don't want any stalkers!

Back in the Swing of Things..

2011-01-22T08:28:00.000-08:00

After Christmas, Matt and I went to Amsterdam to help out some church planters there.

We spent two and a half weeks wandering around specific areas of the city, talking to people, finding out their needs, their desires, what they think of church, what they would want a church to be like, why they don't go to church or why they would go, etc. We hosted three English conversation groups, two of which were unsuccessful, so we went around finding out why and hosted a third group, which was successful and has potential to turn into something more.

Then we jumped into school the day after we got off the plane. It's been a busy week getting settled in, buying textbooks, starting classes, visiting families, and I still haven't finished unpacking from the move!

Which is why I'm going to take a little break right now to read a book. I need some "me" time. :)

Christmas on $160

2010-12-21T11:26:00.001-08:00

Four children, two adults, presents for everyone and dinner for more.

Can you make it happen on $160?

Somehow we did.

We met this family through a friend who was already working with World Relief.

They came to the United States from Iraq by way of Lebanon five months ago.

Emily has spent lots of time with them, visiting them about twice a week before we moved here and I had visited them a few times as well.

After moving in we were talking about Christmas and Emily asked if we could take the children to our church's Christmas program. Surprisingly, they said yes! So Sunday night we took the three youngest children (4, 8, 10) to our church Christmas program and dinner.

When we returned home we were talking about it and Emily and I decided to have them over for a Christmas party before we both had to head home for the break.

We thought about what we could do on our tiny budgets: we had a bag of potatoes. We had leftover tamales from the church (but we can't eat those, because they're pork and this family is Muslim).

But may all glory be given to God for how he as so graciously provided for us!!

A few weeks ago a girl at work told me that she felt like God was leading her to give me $100. No stipulations. Just use it for ministry.

Sunday another person at church gave me more money, some for Emily (who didn't even have gas money to go home for Christmas) and some for the family.

So we decided we would use the $100 from work and the $60 from church to make Christmas happen for this Iraqi family who has never celebrated Christmas nor even heard the story.

We went to Target where we thought hard about what each person would like:

For the father, a tool set and flashlight.

For the mother, a photo frame and perfume.

For the oldest son (14), a chess set.

For the youngest son (10), a soccer ball and air pump.

For the oldest daughter (8), a beaded jewelry craft kit.

For the youngest daughter (4), a baby Snow White doll.

We made mashed potatoes, roasted vegetables, and I got two roast chickens.

We all drank hot chocolate while I spoke broken Arabic and English to tell the Christmas story, demonstrating with our Nativity set, drawing pictures, and making big and crazy motions.

Then we ate dinner, followed by the movie The Nativity Story.

After the movie, we opened presents.

They were all so thrilled to receive each of their gifts.

The father said in broken English mixed with Arabic, "I am so thankful to God for my friends Emily, Laura, and Matt, and for dinner and the movie and the presents, and everything you have done." (rough translation)

The poor 4 year old girl fell asleep during the moving and couldn't wake up to open her present! We tried so hard to wake her up but she fell limp on the couch again. It wasn't until they got home that she was finally awake enough to open it, and then she walked around the house holding and kissing the doll.

The children were all so happy, the parents were so happy, and we were amazed and so thankful to God for allowing us the opportunity to share their first Christmas with them.

This is why we moved.

Pray for this family, that they would hear the Gospel and understand what Christ's birth truly means.

Roaches!!

2010-12-21T11:11:00.000-08:00

The first thing we saw when we opened the door to our new apartment was a roach.

Crawling on the door.

Then in the closet.

Then in the kitchen.

Yuck.

Emily and I tried to look at it positively: if we had actually moved to the country where many of these refugees come from, we would have a lot more than roaches on our hands.

Thankfully, an exterminator is coming today. It turns out that all you have to do is go tell the office "we have roaches" and they'll put you on the list and the next day somebody will come to kill them all.

Once they're gone, I'm sure they'll come back. But then we'll go back to the office, get back on the list, and kill them again.

:)

Moving and Ministry

2010-12-16T13:30:00.001-08:00

I'm moving tomorrow and Saturday.

Again.

In the past three years I have moved four (or five, depending on how you count) times.

But this time instead of moving to a new country or even to a new city, I'm just moving 10 minutes down the road.

The rent is more expensive, the location is less convenient, and the neighborhood is shady.

So why am I moving there?

You may not know it, but Fort Worth, TX is home to thousands of international refugees through organizations like World Relief and others.

Many of those refugees are placed in the LP apartment complex, 10 minutes down the road from our seminary.

All of those refugees have recently been through trauma that most Americans could never imagine or even begin to understand.

Most of those refugees are Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist and have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They've never read the Bible. They've never heard about a God who loves them so much that he sent his son to die for them.

They all need hope. They all need salvation. They all need Christ.

Romans 10:13-17 says:

For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?" So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

So we're going there to tell as many as we can about the good news of Jesus Christ.

Our desire is to reach the nations for Christ but at the moment God has placed us here, in Fort Worth, Texas. But he as also placed the nations just 10 minutes down the road from where we are currently living. If we truly want to see the nations know Christ, what makes us think we will be faithful to proclaim the Gospel around the world if we are not faithful to do it in our own neighborhoods? We must start here and now. We can't wait until we get sponsored by a church or hired by a mission agency. We can't wait until we finish seminary. We can't wait until life slows down or we're working less hours. We have to go now, because right now there are hundreds of families in LP who need the Gospel.

You may ask why we have to move. If it's only 10 minutes down the road, why can't we just go over there and visit every day? Or once a week?

Well, that's the thing. We won't. Emily (my roommate) goes about twice a week, as much as she has been able to go. I've only even gone a few times. Not because I don't want to go more, but taking more than a full load of seminary classes, working 20-30 hours a week, getting involved at church, dating my boyfriend, grocery shopping, exercising, studying, keeping up with my family, attempting (unsuccessfully most days) to keep up with friends from my pre-Spain days, attempting to keep up with friends from Spain, having Bible study with a girl from work, building new relationships with seminary friends...it's just too much. There's always something else to do. There's always a reason why "I don't have time today."

So I'm solving that problem.

I'll just move in with them. Take less hours at school. Bring my boyfriend along when he can. Maybe even take some neighbors grocery shopping with me. Exercise in the fitness room (unless it turns out there are creepy guys in there. Then I won't). Emily and I will do whatever it takes to reach these people.

We don't know them, but we love them.

The Hendricks moved their whole family to Haiti when they saw the hurt and the need of the Haitians. The least we two single girls can do is move out of our comfortable seminary housing and go 10 minutes down the road.

So we're going. It's not Haiti, it's not Saudi Arabia, it's not a mud hut anywhere in Africa. It's LP...just 10 minutes away.

Tomorrow we'll sign the lease and start moving some boxes in, and Saturday we're renting a U-Haul and we'll finish the job.

If you're a believer in Christ, pray for us. Pray that God would give us a ministry. Pray that God would give us favor among our neighbors, and opportunities to share Christ with them. Pray that many would put their faith in him.

More to come later.

Need Some Christmas Music?

2010-12-06T08:04:00.000-08:00

Do you need some new Christmas music?

Are you tired of the same old songs?

Do sleigh bells adorning every single song start to get on your nerves?

Do you wish more Christmas music would focus on the purpose of Christmas, Jesus Christ?

Do you need to mix up your musical selection this Christmas season?

Check out WORSHIP THE NEWBORN KING, by Toby Baxley (who just happens to be my brother-in-law).

You can buy his album (or try out a few songs) on iTunes, or on www.CDbaby.com, Amazon mp3, or plenty of other places.

My favorite song on his album is definitely his re-make of "I heard the bells" but "Wonderful" or "Evermore" are definitely up there on my list!

Technology!!!

2010-11-21T12:58:00.001-08:00

Guess where I am???

I'm in the car!!

On the internet!!

Technology is so cool!!

My phone has internet (which is handy, since my house does not), and my brother in law told me about a tethering application for my phone so that I can (legally) use my phone's internet on my computer. This is very convenient since I'm still working on a research paper, but we've got an 11 hour drive ahead of us.

Thanksgiving is this week!

I'm going to Atlanta, GA and then to Savannah with Matt for the big "meet the family" trip. He's met my family, but I've never met his since they live so far away.

I drove for the first three hours, and now he's driving for the rest of the trip so I can work on my research paper.

Matt wanted me to tell all of my blog readers a story.

Matt likes to sing random songs. Right now he's singing a random song. About his dog Dodger. And his dog Chester. He's singing the words "bark bark bark" to the tune of some random country song. Apparently, they're black dogs who like to bark.

That was a tangent.

He likes to sing random songs. This morning he was singing "show me that smile again..." Anybody know what song that is??

It's GROWING PAINS!!

So we saw an advertisement for Beauty and the Beast, which made us start talking about the Beauty and the Beast Broadway version, which we both have seen.

Then he started singing the Growing Pains song.

He said that he also saw the Growing Pains musical.

I was like, "what? They did that?"

He said "yeah, it was like, life after Growing Pains. Mike Seaver died. The whole original cast came back for the musical. It didn't last long on Broadway, though."

I said, "really? Was Leonardo DiCaprio in it?"

He said, "no, but Kirk Cameron was." And proceeded to tell me more about the story line.

I believed him.

Then he said, "I'm totally lying."

That's Matt. My Matt. He likes to tell crazy stories, get me to believe them, and then tell me it's not true.

And now he's singing "Go Tell it on the Mountain."

Amsterdam

2010-11-14T14:59:00.000-08:00

While I was living in Spain, I traveled back to Texas for a friend's wedding (Panda). On that trip, I had an overnight layover in Amsterdam. Of course, I had to find somewhere to spend the night, so I asked around to see if any of my internationally savvy friends had some recommendations.

It turned out, Amber had some friends named Rob and Katy that lived there. So I got in touch with them and we arranged for me to spend the night with them. Katy met me at Schipol Airport that evening and took me on the train back to their house. Even though it was late at night, she took me on a walk through their village so I could see just how adorable those little Dutch town squares and houses are. Then we went back to her house where they had a nice warm bed waiting for me. The next morning I went back to the airport and said goodbye, promising that whenever I got a chance, I would come back for more than just sleep and a shower. That was August 2008.

Almost two years later, in June 2010 I returned to Spain to visit my friends whom I missed so dearly. I bought my tickets using frequent flyer miles, so my choices were a bit limited. On the way back I had a layover in Amsterdam, but it was only a few hours long, so I thought.

A few days before leaving Madrid I checked my itinerary and realized that I had made a huge mistake: my flight left a day earlier than I had thought, and included an overnight layover in Amsterdam. I would arrive around 10 or 11 at night and leave around 8 or 9 in the morning. I had three days to find somewhere to spend the night, and almost no money for a hotel or hostel.

I sent Katy a facebook message and again, they were so generous to allow me to stay and made me feel so welcome. I only even had time to see them at breakfast since they were already in bed when I got to their house, but during my short stay they reminded me that I had to come back and actually stay a while! They were so sincere and hospitable, and I was so thankful that the Lord blessed me with a comfortable place to stay on such short notice.

A few months later, Matt and I decided that we needed to take a mission trip together. We are both planning on going into ministry, especially foreign ministry, and we're planning on doing that together. We felt it would be beneficial for us to experience ministry together before we commit to do it for the rest of our lives.

So we started looking at options, praying about where to go, and Matt wanted to go to Europe, which I of course have no problem with! We decided not to go to Spain since I already speak the language and know lots of people and we didn't want one of us to have a significant advantage, since we're supposed to be learning and ministering together. We also wanted to go somewhere where a lot of people speak English, since we could only be there for a short time. So we emailed couples in London and Paris, Rob and Katy in Amsterdam, as well as some non-Europe couples. Rob and Katy responded enthusiastically with specific tasks they would like us to accomplish, so we decided to go help them out.

So, we're going to Amsterdam!

We bought our tickets last week, on faith, praying that the Lord would provide the money to actually pay for them. I'm a waitress and Matt works at an after school program, and we're both full-time seminary students so we're not exactly rolling in the cash right now. We decided to fundraise, and as humbling, frustrating, and sometimes annoying as it may be, we started asking friends, family, and church members for money and, more importantly, prayer.

A few people responded positively that they would be praying for us, which was great, and two people donated. We were thrilled about the blessings we had received, but honestly, a little disappointed that some people didn't even seem interested in praying, or even finding out what we were doing there at all. Prayer is far more important than money could ever be. It doesn't matter if only two, three, or four people give us money. We know and believe that God will provide. But we don't want just two, three, or four people praying. We want fifty, sixty, a hundred people praying. Not for us, but that the Gospel would be made known. That hearts would be changed. That the blind would see, the lost would be found, and Christ proclaimed among the people of Amsterdam.

That's what we want.

Your prayers.

Sure, we can't buy a plane ticket without money, but neither can we be effective without prayer. The whole point of going is to share the Gospel. We don't expect to start a church planting movement in two and a half weeks. But we do expect to plant seeds of the Gospel. We do expect to do something to benefit the ministry of Rob and Katy. We won't be there for long, but they will.

So I was discouraged.

I prayed yesterday, "God, I know you will provide. Please provide. I'm discouraged, and frustrated. Let your Gospel be proclaimed in Amsterdam. Prepare people for us to meet; prepare your sheep. Your sheep know your voice. Prepare them to hear your voice, and prepare us. Put us in their path. Open doors for us to proclaim the Gospel."

I was discouraged by the lack of interest in people, but sure that God is faithful.

People will always let you down, but God will never leave us nor forsake us.

I got dressed to go to work and left, sure that God would provide. Not only for Amsterdam, but also to pay next month's rent. To pay the next electricity bill. To buy some shoes to keep my feet warm. As pitiful (and humorous!) as that is, I don't have any winter shoes. I couldn't buy shoes in Spain (they don't carry my size) and after two years of walking everywhere every day, I wore out a lot of shoes! So last week I sucked it up and used my savings account (miraculously provided by the Lord through a gift from my mom! Praise the Lord for my mother!) to buy some winter boots.

On my way out I saw the mail truck, so I decided to check my mailbox before leaving.

There was an envelope in there from a guy I went to college with. I sent him (along with nearly 200 other people) the letter that Matt and I wrote about our trip to Amsterdam.

I opened it up at the stop light and nearly had a heart attack when I saw the check.

I went straight to Matt's house before going to work, and showed him. He jumped up in the air, picked me up, and almost cried.

His gift was so generous. Matt and I cannot find the words to thank him.

All three who have donated to this trip have made such generous gifts. I'm amazed and so thankful. I'm in awe. God is so good. He's so faithful. He always provides just what we need.

We still need a bit more money, but we have no doubt that the Lord will provide. He has proven Himself faithful beyond what we deserve. I am so humbled. So blessed. And I pray that we honor the gifts of those three individuals who gave in the name of the Lord so that we may go and proclaim the Gospel. I pray that we honor the Lord through their gifts. I pray that the Lord be pleased with our work. We simply must be faithful, because He has been so faithful to us.

We still need people to pray.

Three have given financially (and will pray, I'm sure), and a few more have expressed their desire to pray for this opportunity, but we need more prayer. "A few" is not enough. Pray for us. Pray for the lost. Pray for those who have never heard the Gospel. Pray for the refugees in Amsterdam. Pray for the potheads and prostitutes. Pray for the postmodern intellectuals who have no need for God. Pray for the lost sheep.

Amen and Amen.

Why Christians Shoudn't Be Too Nice

2010-11-09T14:48:00.000-08:00

I go to a Baptist seminary.

That means that the majority of the people around me on campus are Christians, or at least call themselves Christians.

Not only are these people who call themselves Christians, but they are Christians with the intention of going into ministry. So in theory, they're pretty serious about living out their faith.

Christians should exhibit love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.

BUT...

Sometimes we're too nice.

Both of my readers are shocked that I would say such a thing. So let me explain, and I am quite sure you will agree.

The government institutes laws, and those laws are meant to preserve order.

Some of those laws tell us we can't steal things, we can't kill anybody, we can't lie to a judge, etc. Those are all good things. Some of those laws govern the way we drive and tell us we have to stop at stop signs, cross at a crosswalk, give right-of-way at certain times and places, etc. Those laws keep people from getting in car accidents, and that too, is a good thing.

And that's why Christians shouldn't be too nice.

On a seminary campus, everybody wants to be so nice and friendly to those around them that sometimes they forget that we have laws that tell us how to drive.

For example, pedestrians should cross at a cross walk. In the normal world, you could get at ticket for jaywalking if you cross outside of a crosswalk, especially if it interrupts the flow of traffic (however I would like to meet somebody who's ever been ticketed for jaywalking!).

But in seminary world, if a car sees somebody standing on the curb about to cross, they stop and let the jaywalker cross. How very nice of them, right? Except that then the pedestrians become accustomed to nice drivers allowing them to cross at any time and start to cross the street all the time, without looking or waiting for the cars to stop. Before you know it, there's people crossing the street everywhere, and cars are piling up behind them. Or, mothers are crossing the streets with their toddlers without looking, because they assume the cars will stop. Danger danger!!

But our seminary doesn't have enough crosswalks, so let's blame that problem on the people who forgot to paint stripes on our streets.

Let's take another example: at a stop-sign intersection, the first car to arrive is supposed to go first. This is to avoid accidents. But at a seminary intersection, the first car to arrive wants to be considerate and motions for the second car to go first. But maybe the second car also wants to be a kind Christian, so they motion for the first car to go first. But the first car wants to be kinder than the second car, so they motion for the second car to go first. But the second car arrived last and wants to, in all kindness, follow the law, so they motion for the first car to go first. But the first car is still motioning for the second car to go first, so the second car starts to inch forward, but by that time the first car begins to think that the second car outdid him in kindness, so he starts to inch forward. The second car stops when he sees the first car inch forward, but the first car has already seen the second car inching so he stops. Then the second car inches forward again because the first car stopped, but by that time the first car has begun to inch forward again upon seeing that the second car stopped.

Make that a three-way intersection and we've got some real confusion on our hands!

Almost every day I witness a traffic violation due to a nice Christian forgetting the law, or a nice Christian pedestrian assuming that the nice Christian in the car will be so nice as to let them pass.

So far, I am unaware of traffic accidents due to nice Christians being too nice, but it is only a matter of time.

And that, my friends, is why Christians shouldn't be too nice.

2 Timothy 2:11-13

2010-10-25T07:19:00.000-07:00

It is a trustworthy statement: for if we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he will also deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny himself.

2 Timothy 1:7-13

2010-10-21T08:57:00.000-07:00

For God
has not given us
a spirit of
timidity,
but of
POWER
and
love
and
discipline.

Therefore
do not be ashamed
of the testimony
of our Lord
or
of me His prisoner,
but
join with me
in
suffering
for
the GOSPEL
according to the
POWER of GOD,
who has saved us
and
called us
with a holy calling,
NOT
according to our works,
but
according to His
own
purpose
and
grace
which was
granted us
in
Christ Jesus
from
all eternity,
but

now

has been revealed
by the appearing
of our
Savior
Christ
Jesus,
who
ABOLISHED death
and
brought LIFE
and
immortality
to light
through
the GOSPEL,
for which
I was appointed
a preacher
and
an apostle
and
a teacher.
For this reason
I also suffer these things,
but
I AM NOT ASHAMED;
for
I know
whom I have believed
and
I am convinced
that
He is able
to guard
what I have entrusted
to Him
until that day.

Retain
the standard
of sound words
which
you have heard from me,
in
the faith
and
love
which
are in
Christ Jesus.

2010-10-05T09:25:00.000-07:00

http://www.swbts.edu/chapel/chapel_archive.cfm

Click on "Justin Peters"

"Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

For in him, all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority..."

- Colossians 2:6-10

"I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But if even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!"

- Galatians 1:6-9

"I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Jesus Christ, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and by His kingdom, preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."

- 1 Timothy 2:1-5

The Boy

2010-09-30T15:28:00.000-07:00

I was skimming through my few posts over the past year...one was when my six year old nephew said, "you need to find someone to get married with."

Haha!

Well, as you can see from my new blog picture, I have found myself a man.

His name is Matt.

He is from Georgia.

He lived in Nepal for two years and speaks Nepali.

He is also getting an mDiv here.

We met in January, when he and his roommate helped my roommate move in. She said she would cook dinner for them as a way of saying thank you. I was super excited about meeting boys, so of course I was all for it. Then on the first day of class she introduced them to me. He was so talkative and friendly, and at the end of our first conversation, he told me that I was "very interesting."

Then we went to chapel and he sat next to me.

He sang really loudly.

It was out of key and absolutely adorable.

A week later we had them over for taco soup. After dinner, we played a game of Spades in which he and my roommate were partners and lost terribly.

Our roommates say that was when they saw the sparks begin to fly.

We started hanging out every single day - chapel, class, gym - he even came to Starbucks, despite the fact that he hates coffee, to "study" with us.

One evening the guys had "Pancake Night" at their house. After we ate, we all watched "Seven Years in Tibet." Near the end of the movie, he held my hand.

The next day we had a "discussion."

We didn't start dating right away (but I wouldn't let him hold my hand until he was ready to commit!), but a week or two later. He wanted to "take some time" to think about it and get to know me better, since it all happened so quickly (we met early January, started dating Feb 12), but just couldn't seem to wait, so we decided we either needed to make it official or stop spending so much time together.

So we made it official. :)

And now we've been official for seven and a half months.

Yikes!

I like Matthew quite a lot. :)

Any questions?

Why Do I Always Do This?

2010-09-27T19:57:00.000-07:00

So far this semester, I've had five quizzes in Greek, if you include the one I'm about to take tomorrow.

With the exception of one of the quizzes, I realized I had a quiz the night before, about 9 or 10pm...

Why do I always do this?

Thankfully, they're all review quizzes from what we learned last year, but still - yikes!

Back to studying participles...

I'm Back!!

2010-09-24T12:11:00.001-07:00

Well, sort of.

I can't promise my bi-weekly (and sometimes more) blog posts that I used to make, but I am determined to get back in the swing of blogging.

"Where have you been?" you might be asking.

Well, you're not the only one asking such a question. It's filled my email in-box, my facebook wall, and the minds and hearts of all my faithful blog readers. All two of you.

For one thing, I don't have internet. That makes blogging kind of difficult.

Also, life has been busy.

Each semester for the past 13 months I've been taking 12-13 hours of grad school, as well as working about 25-30 hours a week. Now, in college that would have been an overabundant load of work, but seminary is a different ballgame. 9 hours is considered "full time", and I understand completely why. It's quite a challenge staying on top of things!

Also, I have a boyfriend. :)

His name is Matt, he's from Georgia, he used to live in Nepal (during the same time that I was in Spain), and he likes sports and Coca-Cola a lot.

I'm rather fond of him. Tee hee.

So that's another reason for my mysterious absence from the blogging world. Too much time studying, working, and attempting to date my boyfriend.

We've been dating 7 1/2 months now. WOW! I can hardly believe it!

You may be wondering where I've been working: Pappadeaux!! Google it. It's tasty. If there's one in your area, you should go there for dinner tonight. It's a Cajun seafood restaurant, and while a little bit pricey (I may work there, but I can't quite afford to eat there...), it's definitely worth it if you can squeeze it into your budget every now and then.

You may be wondering what I'm studying: Jesus! Well, sort of. I'm getting a Master of Divinity (mDiv) at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. It's been a GREAT (but challenging) experience so far. I'm learning so much, and really enjoy my classes, professors, and classmates.

To give you an idea of what kinds of classes I take at seminary, here's what last year looked like:

Fall:
Church History 1 (33AD-crusades)
Elementary Greek 1
Old Testament 1 (Genesis-Esther)
Hermeneutics (interpretation)
Spiritual Formation (chapel, Scripture memory, Spiritual disciplines, etc)

Spring:
Church History 2 (Reformation-current)
Elementary Greek 2
Old Testament 2
Spiritual Formation

Fall (right now):
Missiology (the study of missions)
Systematic Theology 1
New Testament Greek 1 (we're translating Colossians!)
Ishmael/Arabs in Biblical History

It's been quite an experience!

I also have the greatest roommate of all time.

Her name is Emily, and she was a journeyman in Spain, also. She lived in the Canary Islands and we met in Seville, became friends in the Algarve (Portugal), and hung out lots and lots in Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, Frankfurt, and Munich. Now we live together! She's been one of the greatest blessings to me. I was so lonely before she came, and having her as a friend and roommate has turned everything around. We cry together, laugh together, sing together, make crazy noises together, live, work, study, and go to church together...you would think we'd get sick of each other, but instead, it's quite the opposite! I can't get enough of her!

Surely you're getting bored now.

Now that both of my faithful readers know that I still exist, I can get back to blogging as usual.

Come back soon!

Bruner

Growing Up

2010-01-04T18:43:00.000-08:00

Today was full of responsible, adult-like activities.

I opened a new bank account, bought a mattress, began applying for a job for which I need a Ft. Worth phone number, so I then set up an 817 phone number through Skype and had all calls forwarded to my non-817 cell phone, and I began packing to move in to my first apartment that I personally will pay for, with no help from my mother and no company to pay for it.

Starting last month I began paying for my own car insurance, choosing health insurance, paying my own rent and bills, and generally partaking in responsible, adult-like activities.

It's not that I didn't do any of those things in Spain, but it was so much easier there. I walked into a job situation in which my health insurance, housing, and travel was all provided for me. I had no car, so I didn't have to worry about car insurance, gas, repairs, etc. Now, after a little help from my family who got me set up (thank you!!), I'm a responsible, independent, single adult.

It feels...

exciting.

terrifying.

exhilarating.

overwhelming.

empowering.

This is my first time being an adult, so I'm still trying to figure it all out.

I think I like it. But it scares me. Suddenly there's so much...

responsibility.

That's a big word.

Yet I'm not worried. Scared, yes, but worried, no. :)

Last semester God provided for all of my needs.

Sometimes it was "natural" - through my savings, a little help from my mom, a few babysitting gigs - and sometimes it was "supernatural" - somebody offering a rent-free living situation, a man at church who felt he needed to give me some cash, a fellow student who did the same, $5 in the mail from a friend, an invitation to dinner; God provided through both expected and unexpected means.

I never went hungry - in fact, I ate quite nicely.

When my shoes fell apart (literally), I had money to buy new ones.

I even had the funds for a few clothing splurges (I may be on a budget, but I'm still a girl!).

I have no doubt that God will provide abundantly this Spring as well.

So join me on my blog as I begin this new adventure in life called "adulthood," full of responsibility, adventure and bills.

Still Single

2010-01-02T18:14:00.000-08:00

My six year old nephew just told me, "You need to find someone to get married with."

From the mouths of babes, right?

Is this you?

2009-12-15T20:45:00.001-08:00

Right now I'm reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It's all the rage right now in the Christian bookstores, and while I usually don't care about what's "all the rage" anywhere, enough friends have told me how great it is that I figured it might make some good Christmas break reading. After all, it's not a very long book.

I'm in the fourth chapter, People of the Lukewarm, and was struck by this paragraph. Read this, and examine your heart. Could he be talking about you??

"Lukewarm people don't really want to be saved from their sin; they only want to be saved from the penalty of their sin. They don't genuinely hate sin and aren't truly sorry for it; they're merely sorry because God is going to punish them. Lukewarm people don't really believe that this new life Jesus offers is better than the old sinful one."

I confess, that has been me before.

But not anymore.

The more we learn about God - His holiness, righteousness, goodness, mercy, grace, and so much more, the more we will begin to hate what God hates, and love what God loves. And then we see how all our supposed goodness is merely "filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6 - literally, those "filthy rags" are used menstrual cloths) in comparison with God's goodness.

That's not pessimistic. It's realistic.

God is good.

We are not.

I am not.

And yet God chooses to love us.

He seeks a relationship with us.

He saves us, not only from the penalty of our sin, but sin itself.

Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (John 10:10).

And yet so many of us are lukewarm.

We want to be saved from the penalty of our sin, but we don't want to be saved from sin itself.

Sin is fun.

We want to play by our own rules.

Who is God to tell us what we can and can't do??

Therein lies the problem: WHO IS GOD??

We don't understand WHO this great God is.

If we saw him like Isaiah did (Is 6), or as John described in the book of Revelation, we also would fall to our knees and exclaim "Woe is me!" as we recognize our filth in light of His holiness.

And yet,

He loves us, with a love beyond comprehension, a crazy love, you could say.

So I recommend to you Crazy Love. Not even because the book is so spectacular. While it is a great book, it's true value lies in the fact that it directs you the Scriptures. The Bible tells us who God is, and how we should respond to Him. Crazy Love will remind you of what you already know, or maybe what you didn't already know. It will point you to the Scriptures, to the Word direct from God Himself. To the love of God, direct from Himself.

"Spreading Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!

2009-12-05T13:48:00.000-08:00

Remember that quote from Elf?

"Spreading Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!"

Yeah, that one.

Well, maybe you can't sing.

Let me tell you about someone who can!

My brother-in-law, Toby Baxley, is selling his Christmas album, Worship the Newborn King, on his website www.tobybaxley.com for only $10.

And even better, $2 of every album goes to Sweet Sleep. Sweet Sleep is an organization that provides beds for orphanages around the world.

So when you buy my brother-in-law's Christmas album, you're helping little children in Africa, Moldova, and Haiti sleep well on clean beds this Christmas.

So go to www.tobybaxley.com and buy his album ASAP! You have to buy the physical copy of the album on his website in order for the $2 to go to Sweet Sleep, so while iTunes is great for other music, buying this album direct from him will be providing for precious children around the world.

Thanks!

Spiritual Disciplines

2009-11-29T11:18:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading this book, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, by Donald S. Whitney.

I had to read it for one of my classes here in seminary, and to be honest, I wasn't looking forward to it. I had a paper to write, other books to read for other classes, assignments to complete...I was not looking forward to a dry, boring, book about reading the Bible. I'd rather just read the Bible itself.

The book turned out to be wonderful. It was inspiring, encouraging, motivating, convicting...I found it to be so beneficial that not only am I buying a copy for myself (the book I used was borrowed), but I also want to share it with you. Over the next few weeks I'll be doing a series on the disciplines discussed in the book. It won't be exactly a summary of the book (I hope that you'll buy the book for yourself - it is well worth the investment), but my desire is that it may encourage you to exercise some spiritual disciplines in your own life.

You may be asking, "what are these spiritual disciplines to which you refer?"

Well, they are:

Bible intake (which includes reading, memorization, and meditation)
Prayer
Worship
Evangelism
Serving
Stewardship
Fasting
Silence and Solitude
Learning

These are the "Biblical" spiritual disciplines - the ones that are explicitly commanded/expected from us in the Bible. Also recommendable is journaling, in order to keep a record of what God has been teaching you through the other disciplines.

Now you may be thinking, "Isn't that legalism?"

Suppose you want to run a marathon. So you get up every Sunday morning and watch the runners at the park. You read books on marathon training and even jog a mile or two. Maybe you run on Wednesday evenings, too. Though you may read about running, watch runners, and even job twice a week for one, two, or three years, you won't be able to run a marathon. You have to get up and run. Train daily. Eat well. Discipline yourself.

Suppose you want to lose 20 pounds. So every Sunday, you go to a weight-loss support group. Wednesdays you eat salads. But the rest of the week, you eat hamburgers, chips, cookies, etc. Are you going to lose 20 pounds? Not likely. You have to change your eating habits. You have to create new, healthy habits. You have to exercise. You have to discipline yourself.

Suppose you want to play guitar like Jimi Hendrix, or Eric Clapton. So every Sunday morning and Wednesday evening you watch videos of Jimi or Eric playing. You read books about guitar. You even pick it up and play a scale every now and then. Will you ever reach fame as a talented guitarist? Of course not. You should probably take lessons. You definitely need to practice daily. You have to train your fingers to move quickly, to play the right notes. You have to discipline yourself.

So it is in our walk with Christ.

1 Peter 1:15-16 says, "But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'"

Romans 12:1 says, "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship."

Christians also have a goal. Holiness. Godliness. Christ-likeness.

Just as marathon runners must discipline their bodies to run and their minds to persevere when they lack motivation; just as dieters must discipline their minds to resist cravings and train their bodies to crave good food and exercise; just as aspiring guitarists musts train their fingers to respond to the notes on the page, so must Christians discipline their minds, bodies, and spirits to submit to godliness.

Now don't go thinking that I'm talking about salvation by works. The Bible is VERY clear that we are saved by the grace of God alone, through faith alone, by Christ alone, as revealed in Scripture alone, for the glory of God alone.

Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."

I'm not talking about spiritual disciplines for the sake of salvation. There is no "magic formula" to salvation. Only Jesus Christ can save - the only thing required of us is to respond to him. He has already justified us before the Father through His blood.

Nor am I talking about self-made godliness, aka, legalism. Just as we cannot justify ourselves, nor can we sanctify ourselves. That is the work of the Holy Spirit.

But just as a marathon runner may have a trainer, he still has to get up and run. Just as a dieter may have a nutritionist, he still has to eat well. Just as a guitarist may have a teacher, he still has to practice. Our sanctification is an active process. The Holy Spirit works in us and through us, and we must respond. We must not harden our hearts to the Spirit's workings.

Hebrews 3:16 says, "Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Our response is to draw near. And if we draw near, we will "receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

The spiritual disciplines are really just ways of drawing near to the Lord. And that is what I am encouraging you to do - draw near to Him.

Please Don't...

2009-11-05T15:20:00.000-08:00

Right now I'm listening to a lecture on Scripture memorization for my Spiritual Formation class here at seminary. He said something that really struck me:

"When you walk away from God, the first thing you do is walk away from His Word....the next thing you do is walk away from His People."

This is so true.

And so sad.

Please, read the Word.

Please, find a church that teaches the Word. Then go to it.

Also at Starbucks...

2009-10-26T07:40:00.001-07:00

The Starbucks I usually go to is connected to a Barnes and Noble. Last night after studying, I decided to take a few minutes to stroll around the store and clear my mind looking at books, such as everybody's childhood favorite (that I somehow missed out on) Where The Wild Things Are.

Upon re-entering Starbucks, a short, round, grey-haired man in a yamaka was teaching the barista Spanish by saying things like "fat" and "ugly", pointing to himself.

He was speaking Spanish! How could I possibly resist the urge to talk to him??

Well I couldn't, so I did talk to him. :)

It turns out he's from Argentina, and a Rabbi. He made me laugh incessantly and asked me, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" ("Que quieres ser cuando seas grande?"), something nobody has asked me since I was a kid.

I told him that I'm a Christian and he said that when he gets back from his trip (he was on his way to the airport at that moment) we should meet for a cup of coffee and talk about spiritual things.

Before leaving we traded phone numbers and he asked what he should save as my last name.

"Gorda? No no no, no puede ser"
"Fat? No no no, that can't be."
"Flaca? No no, eso tampoco esta bien"
"Skinny? No no, that's not right either."
"Te dije que soy bueno? Porque si te lo dije, fue mentira."
"Did I tell you that I'm good? Because if I did, it was a lie."

If he weren't an Argentinian Rabbi, I might have had to slap the man! But Argentines have a way of making you laugh no matter what they say. It's impossible to stay mad an Argentine because he'll make you laugh so much you forgot why you were mad in the first place.

And of course, you can't slap a Rabbi. That would just be wrong.

Welcome To Texas

2009-10-25T15:14:00.000-07:00

A guy just walked into Starbucks with a buckle on his belt and spurs on his boots.

Real spurs.

His one year old son is wearing cowboy boots as well.

I'm officially back in Texas.

Be Wise

2009-10-20T18:37:00.001-07:00

"Make your ear attentive to wisdom,

Incline your heart to understanding;

For if you cry for discernment,

Lift your voice for understanding;

If you seek her as silver

And search for her as for hidden treasures;

Then you will discern the fear of the Lord

And discover the knowledge of God.

For the Lord gives wisdom;

From His mouth come knowledge and understanding."

Proverbs 2:2-6 NASB

Midterms

2009-10-06T20:43:00.001-07:00

Three down.

One to go.

In case you forgot, I'm in seminary.

And somehow I managed to sign up for four of the most challenging professors in the school, all in one semester.

BUT I'm thankful. I came here to be challenged. I came here to learn. And I'm learning a whole stinkin' lot!!

My schedule this semester is:

Church History 1 (New Testament church through...the Reformation? I'm not sure at what point in history the class ends)

Old Testament 1

Hermeneutics (that means "the art or science of interpreting texts")

Elementary Greek 1 (I'll take a a total of four semesters of Greek, and two of Hebrew)

and Spiritual Formation, a class that deals with yourpersonal spiritual life.

Last week I had three midterms...so far I only know the grade for Church History. I made an A. :)

Thursday I have Old Testament. Those who have taken the class before me have given their advice for doing well on this exam, which covers The Pentateuch (Genesis - Deuteronomy). They say, "basically, just memorize the Pentateuch."

Awesome.

I think I'll be satisfied if I can memorize the three Scripture passages we're required to write from memory, complete all the readings (Gen-Deut twice, two text books, Justin's Dialogue w/ Trypho, and something else which I haven't even started...), and still remember my own name.

It's hard work, but it's totally worth it.

"Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Exodus 34:6-7

2009-09-30T18:09:00.000-07:00

"Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed,

'The Lord,

the Lord God,

compassionate
and gracious,

slow to anger,

and abounding in
lovingkindness
and truth;

who keeps lovingkindness
for thousands,

who forgives iniquity,
transgression
and sin;

yet He will
by no means
leave the guilty
unpunished,

visiting the iniquity of fathers
on the children
and on the grandchildren
to the third
and fourth generations.'"

Friends

2009-09-19T13:48:00.000-07:00

Remember when we were little, and all it took to make friends was to walk up to someone and say, "Do you want to be my friend?"

And soon you were sitting together in the dirt digging holes, completely satisfied and comfortable with each other as if you had known each other your whole lives.

More Update!

2009-09-14T19:01:00.000-07:00

Two posts in two days! Incredible!!

You may be wondering what's been going on in my world, aside from reading.

Well I already wrote about coming back from Spain.

Since then, a month has passed. The first almost weekish was spent with my family, followed by a near week with friends in Virginia. The day before going to Virginia my family moved me to Ft. Worth, where the seminary is. When I got back to DFW, my new car was waiting for me in "The Parking Spot." If you've ever been to DFW airport, you've seen those goofy polka dot vans. I got to ride one of those. :)

Then, classes started.

I'll be honest - that first week was rough.

Not because of the classes in themselves, but the rather, the whole process of moving overseas (from a place I LOVED), starting over in a new city, returning to way of life that I thought I had left behind, driving again (terrifying!), missing my friends back in Spain...the list goes on.

Honestly, I just wanted to curl up into a ball and cry.

I'm pretty sure I did a few times.

But since that first week of class, things have improved greatly. A guy in Spain put me in touch with a girl he knew that would also be starting here this Fall, and we just happened to bump into each other the first week. We've been hanging out ever since.

For my birthday, instead of sitting at Starbucks by myself with no friends (what would have happened), she decided we had to do something. So she and I and two other girls and one guy went to Macaroni Grill and bowling. Let me tell you, that was the best date of his life. Four girls, one guy - can it get much better? We had a blast. The pasta was delicious, the bowling was a blast (I bowled 136 in the first game!), and we loved watching the guys next to us bowl. They were awesome.

Then on Friday I went home to my sister's house for my birthday dinner with the family. She told me that the kids wanted to surprise me, so I walked back to my room, opened the door, turned on the light and.....SURPRISE!! The kids jumped out from behind the bed which MY MOM was sitting on.

My mom.

The one living in Asia.

The one who told me she'd be home the next week.

I stared at her. Turned to my sister. Stared at her again. Finally she stood up, we hugged, and the sobbing began. It's been a rough month, and no matter how old a girl gets, there's nothing like crying it all away in your momma's arms.

I'm sure my brother-in-law will be posting a terribly embarrassing video soon. I'll be sure link you to it.

And now...back to reading.

My Life Lately

2009-09-13T17:26:00.000-07:00

Is reading.

Reading.

All the time.

And more reading.

Why didn't anybody warn me about this??

Why didn't somebody tell me, "Laura, going to seminary is NOT like undergrad."

I've never had more reading in my life!

Completing the reading assignments for my Old Testament class alone seems next to impossible, and I've got three and a half classes on top of that!

Greek is supposed to be one of the more challenging classes, but so far I'm having an easier time keeping up with my Greek work than any other class, including the half-class.

Not that being a math major was easy, but at least the answers were clear. You either understood or didn't understand. And if you didn't understand, you could usually make some stuff up, quote a few theorems, mention Pythagoras or Descartes and still get some credit.

So while I thoroughly enjoy reading about Marcion (early church heretic), the Abrahamic Covenant, allegorical vs. literal interpretation, and first and second declensions of Greek nouns, when is a girl supposed to eat? sleep? flirt? (just kidding! boys scare me).

It is only by the grace of God that I'm going to survive this semester with any amount of sanity intact. And while I spend plenty of time reading the Bible for my Old Testament and my Hermeneutics classes, I'm even having difficult finding time to sit down and soak it in as anything more than a textbook. You can certainly pray for me in that.

However I must say, I LOVE that we're studying the Pentateuch right now in OT. The Lord led me to study Exodus last Spring and it was life changing. Literally. Through it He told me to come back to Texas. So here I am, wandering in the wilderness of Ft. Worth, hanging on to His promises for dear life. And as I read and study Exodus as a textbook, I can't help but remember the sweet (but challenging! let's not over-romanticize it!) times I had in Spain, reading Éxodo (I studied it in Spanish) at my dining room table each morning, looking out the window towards Atocha train station, knowing that the time was coming to say "see you later", but never "goodbye."

España, te quiero.

Leaving Spain

2009-08-24T13:52:00.000-07:00

Many of my faithful readers* may be wondering why I have been silent for so long. My silence can only be explained by two weeks in Germany, moving across the ocean, unpacking, repacking, moving again, going to Virginia, lack of internet, starting school...the excuses are endless.

Despite the reasons for my absence, I apologize. So get excited, because I'm back!

Let me catch you up to speed:

Just under a month ago, I visited my Spanish Starbucks for the last time.

That morning I met up with my friends Paola and Rosi in an attempt to see the Sorolla exhibit at the Prado museum. We were unsuccessful. So we saw the Matisse exhibit instead. After a cup of coffee we parted ways. It's always so hard to say goodbye!!

I then walked down the street to Starbucks for the last time, and they surprised me with my very own apron! They each signed it for me before I left for church.

Church was filled with many more hugs, goodbyes, and see-you-laters. But it was such a blessing!

The next morning I woke up at dark-30 to hop on a plane to Frankfurt with my friend Emily. Long before I knew I would be leaving Spain we bought tickets to go on vacation in Germany. Our first stop was the train station, where they had....Starbucks!!

It was not my intent to buy a drink that day, but we decided to stop and see what sandwiches they had for our picnic the next day. We were just looking, and then...the check-out boy asked if I wanted a free drink.

Fo' realz, yo.

So I got a free drink. :)

We spent the rest of the day wandering around town, walking by the river, attempting to enter closed museums, seeing the cathedral, exploring downtown, talking to strangers...the typical Emily-Laura vacation combo. I had heard that there wasn't much to see in Frankfurt, but we really enjoyed it and I wished we could have stayed another day to see some of the museums (they are all closed on Mondays).

One of our favorite parts of the day was wandering through the massive greenbelt that passes through the city. It's full of businessmen and women leaving work, soft green grass, fun statues, and bunny rabbits.

We attempted to get close to the rabbits, but they were a bit scared of us. I can't imagine why. but as we were reclining near our naked friend, a baby rabbit who had not yet learned to be afraid of humans came out looking for something to eat. He/she came and sniffed my hand, and gave Emily a little kiss on the elbow.

The next day we went hiking outside of Frankfurt, somewhere with some old Celtic ruins. The ruins turned out to be not very exciting, but what was exciting were the wild blueberries on the top of the hike. Emily and I picked blueberries for about an hour and snacked on them the whole way home. By the end of the day our fingers and tongues were bright purple.

The next day we hopped a train to Munich where we met up with our friend Darby. Munich was a GORGEOUS city and I would recommend it to anybody. The architecture was beautiful, the people were friendly, and there were plenty of museums to choose from.

We only went to one museum, but we had plenty of fun wandering around, having a picnic in the grass, playing frisbee, eating some weinerschnitzel (is that how you spell it??) and enjoying each other's company.

One of the coolest things they have in Munich is a surf river. In the middle of the city there's a river with machines that create a wake to practice surfing. Surfers take turns riding the waves while onlookers watch from a bridge above. I was inspired by a new passion to learn how to surf. The only problem is the lack of a nearby ocean...

We also went to Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp that became the blueprint for the camps to follow. Dachau was a work-camp where they were worked until they died, as opposed to an extermination camp where they were mass-murdered. It was heart breaking to see. The gate entrance says "Work Makes Free" in German. It was a Nazi joke because they knew that the only way anybody left Dachau was through the chimney.
It's heartbreaking to see the horrors that mankind can commit when we give in to the darkness of our hearts. The Nazis who worked at the camp had normal lives outside of the camp walls - wives, children, hobbies - just as those inside the walls once had before it was taken away from them. The townspeople nearby knew all about the camp but chose to live in ignorance and deny the atrocities of what was going on inside. They may not have beaten and killed any prisoners, but their inaction against injustice revealed the same darkness within their hearts. The camp was a reminder that when apart from God, anybody is capable of committing any sort of atrocity. Even you and me, and it is only by the grace of God that I have done any good thing.

We also went to the Neuschwanstein castle a few hours outside of Munich. Many say that this is where Walt Disney got his inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's castle (however some say it was Segovia, in Spain). I can see where they would have got the idea. The castle is amazingly similar and fairy-tale-esque.

After Germany I had one more night in Spain. I went out with my friends Sebas, Rocío, Fede, and Del (who is actually an American and was staying with some of my friends that night). We ate dinner at the place where I had my first Spanish dinner. It was fabulous. Then we walked around downtown enjoying the beauty of the city at night. We walked past Sol, the palace, the opera...it was beautiful.
The next morning some friends took me to the airport to say farewell. While I didn't cry at the airport, I couldn't hold in the tears once the plane took off. I cried from Madrid to Dublin, all through the airport (I think scared the customs agent!), and from Dublin to Chicago. Chicago to Dallas I was able to calm myself down, but when I hugged my brother at the baggage claim, the tears began to flow again. I finally got to hold my nephew for the first time! Hayden Charles was born January 5th, 2009. On August 8th, I finally got to hold and kiss my little nephew.

The next day (Sunday) we went to none other than Jason's Deli for lunch. Oh how I missed their salad bar!!
Later I met my best friend Julie for coffee. It was so good to catch up! And now that we're finally in the same time zone, hopefully it will be much easier to keep up with each others lives!

And at that, my dear readers, I shall leave you. This update is already too long. Later I'll update about Mineola, my new car, Virginia, moving to Ft. Worth and beginning seminary.

Until then, ¡hasta luego!

*Do I even have any faithful readers?

Starbucks and Sushi

2009-07-24T07:24:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there was a girl named Bruner.

Bruner had no fear of strangers, an insatiable curiosity, and an utter lack of an efficient inner monologue to stop her from saying the first thing that crossed her mind.

One day while Bruner was at Starbucks (because really, when is she not at Starbucks?) she noticed a deep looking soul sitting not too far away. She knew he was deep because of his shaggy hair, little black notebook, and self mumblings as he scrawled his deepest most profound musings into the notebook.

"I wonder what he's writing? Is he a poet? A song writer? A philosopher?. It must be deep because that's a Moleskine, used only for the deepest, most profound thoughts."

After that day she saw the deep, shaggy haired poet every so often and constantly asked herself what kinds of tragically romantic thoughts he might be scribbling that day.

Until one day...

Bruner sat across from Deep Boy. She watched him mumble to himself with furrowed brow, his lips silently composing, his hand drawing tiny circles in the air before jotting down his latest revelation. As she was studying for a Spanish exam, and he was Spanish, she found this was the perfect excuse to begin a conversation.

"Excuse me, could you explain to me what (insert Spanish idiomatic phrase here) means?"

After his polite response the two returned to their tasks. He with his deepness and her with her Spanish. Until suddenly her auto-stop failed - she could no longer resist the temptation - she gave in to her curiosity and said:

"Do you mind if I ask what you're writing?"

She prepared herself for the most philosophical of responses, most certainly far beyond her scope of understanding when he replied:

"Jokes."

Jokes?

Really?

And all that time she thought he was deep and sensitive.

Deep-Boy-Turned-Comedian was named Alvaro.

From that day on Bruner and Alvaro always found each other on the sofas and spent the evenings talking and laughing; Bruner using Alvaro as her own personal Spanish dictionary, and Alvaro using Bruner as a test audience for his jokes.

Their friendship grew and grew as each night they sipped coffee until closing time, accompanied each other home, Gchat-ed the next day and then returned to Starbucks to do it all again.

They carried on like this for months and months, but alas, all good things must come to an end.

Bruner had to return to the land of pick-up trucks and BBQ, and Alvaro got a job in another city as a comedy writer for late-night TV. All of those jokes finally paid off.

The day before he left, Alvaro took Bruner to her very first Sushi restaurant.

Not only was it her first sushi experience ever, but it was also the best in the city, making Bruner very happy when she finally tasted the more-delicious-than-she-could-imagine-raw-fish, plus she got to eat with chopsticks and we all know that Bruner loves chopsticks. Alvaro knew just what to order to please the palate.

Just as they met at Starbucks and thus began their friendship, so they must also say farewell there and thus begin a new phase - the long-distance friendship. So they went to Starbucks to enjoy one last drink together on the oft visited sofas.

As it turns out, Alvaro really is a deep, sensitive soul. But he just so happens to be a funny one, which is much better than the emotional moody poetic one she originally thought he was.

Bruner was sad to say goodbye to Alvaro, but thankful to have known him, learned from him, laughed with him, and enjoyed his friendship. And when he comes to visit her in the land of pick-ups and BBQ, she'll buy him a drink at Starbucks. :)

Thanks, Alvaro :)

Salamanca!

2009-07-20T03:50:00.000-07:00

Last weekend a few friends and I went to Salamanca, Ivan and Rocío's hometown. The city is famous for it's university, the oldest in Spain and one of the oldest in Europe. Ivan, Dámaris, Sebas, and Rocío and I all piled into Ivan's car and made the 2+ hour drive to this ancient city.

While Sebas and Rocío spent the day with their family, Ivan and Dámaris showed me around town, beginning with the Plaza Mayor:

Later we went to the old university. On the facade there's a frog hiding out somewhere, and legend has it that on the first day of class students had to find the frog, and if they were able to find it they would succeed and complete their degree, but if they couldn't find it, they were sure to fail. I was determined to find it, but after straining my next for just three minutes I said to Ivan, "I'm not sure I have the patience to find it." Now, I didn't mean I was going to give up just yet; I was just commenting. But Ivan took that to mean "I give up" and proceeded to tell me exactly where it was. Oh well. I guess it's a good thing I've already got my degree. :) Now see if you can find this famous frog:

Later we went to a juice/smoothie bar. I got pineapple/raspberry juice, Dámaris got a raspberry smoothie, and Ivan a strawberry smoothie. Here we are enjoying our refreshing drinks on a hot Summer day:

At one point we toured the free part of the cathedral (the "new" part, built in the 1500's), and later in the evening (when it wasn't so hot anymore) we were able to climb to the top and explore the roof of the cathedral, as well as view the old part (the part you have to pay for). From the roof we could see brides galore, all waiting to get married in the 12th century cathedral. Each bride got a 15ish minute wedding. They all walked in, sat down, the organ played, the priest gave them the wafer and the wine, pronounced them man and wife, and as the cameras flashed he shooed them out so the next bride could take her turn. Not exactly what I dream of for my own wedding.

In the "new" part of the cathedral they had a mirror underneath the dome so you could get a better view without straining your neck. But I saw greater potential:

All in all it was a great weekend with great friends. I enjoyed getting to know a new town, getting to know my friends better, and replacing the noise and bustle of a big city with the calm and quiet of a town.

Basketball!!

2009-07-13T03:34:00.000-07:00

For the past two weeks I've been helping out in our annual basketball camp. This year we had more or less 120 kids each day from ages 4-15.

The first week I found myself translating a LOT. So much so that by the end of the week I had nearly lost my voice. And while I wasn't with any one particular group, I had the blessing of seeing all the kids on a daily basis as they came to my station to learn about good sportsmanship, giving your best effort, playing good offense and defense, and of course, being like Jesus. During that time I got to know these three girls pretty well:

In the second week I was translating for the 12-15 year old girls' coach, so I had the opportunity of getting to know these girls a lot better. I had so much fun!

Of course, it was stinkin' HOT, but thanks to the prayers of many, it wasn't intolerable. Nobody got heatstroke or dehydrated that I'm aware of, and my sunburn was only minor. :)

Next year I won't be living here anymore, but I'm hoping to have the opportunity to come back with the volunteer team to help out with the camp. Who knows, maybe I can bring a team over myself? Anybody ready to sign up?

Russian Tim, Women and Fire Jumping

2009-07-05T06:55:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago one of my friends from college, Tim, came to visit with his mom. Tim's been working in Russia for nearly a year, so when his mom went to visit they decided to take a little European tour and come see me.

It was so great to see a friend from home - somebody who knows me, understands me, and now that he, too, is living internationally, somebody who can relate to living cross-culturally, learning a new language, and so many of the strange experiences that are so hard to describe unless you've "been there."

I had so much fun showing he and his mom my city. I love this city so much and want for everybody who comes here to have a great experience and fall in love with it as I have. That's why I'm starting to think I might enjoy becoming a tour guide. :) Something to think about for the future...

We also went to Toledo one day. And without knowing it, we went the day before a huge festival, the Corpus Cristi, when the city is packed. So we got to see the decorations and some of the pre-holiday festivities without the massive crowds.

One of the pre-holiday festivities involved marching these giants through the city. They were probably about 15-20 feet tall and dressed as men, women, old Spaniards, Moors, and various other characters. Check out the guy behind us scratching his belly:

The day that Tim and his mom left I went on a women's retreat with my local church. What a blessing! There were women of all ages - from 20 and 21 (or 24 like myself) all the way up to "señoras mayores", women who usually don't tell you how old they are. :) I loved getting to know more women from the church, learn from them, worship with them, and spend a weekend out of the city. I also made a new friend, Cristina, who's just as crazy as me, or maybe crazier:

Two days after the women's retreat I went with my friend Paola to the Fiesta de San Juan, the day of Saint John. When she invited me, I was expecting a late-night picnic, families, music, and other benign activities. What I found when I got there was much different:

In the park behind a large church hundreds upon hundreds of 20-somethings has set up bonfire after bonfire and were taking turns jumping through them. They explained to me that it was originally a Celtic pagan ritual, but when Catholicism took over they turned it into Saint John's day.

What Paola's friends told me is that you're supposed to write down the bad things that happened over the past year and throw them into the fire, and then jump over it. It's a rite of purification, a sort of "cleansing." Knowing that I'm a Christian, they asked me if I was going to jump. I told them that I've been cleansed by the blood of Jesus and I've got the fire of the Holy Spirit, so I'd already got it taken care of. We all had a good laugh, drank lemon Fanta (well...some of us), and watched people burn their leg hair jumping over completely un-safe bonfires. All the while a woman pushed her two year old child on a nearby swing despite the fact that it was nearly 1am.

Overall it was a great week - time with an old friend, making new friends, and getting to know better some recently made friends. :)

Happy Birthday Melissa!!!! (and usa)

2009-07-04T10:45:00.000-07:00

Today is July 4th! And we all know what that means!

It's Melissa's birthday!

Yup, that's right. Our own personal firecracker, Melissa Jane Baxley (formerly Bruner) was born on July 4th, 1978 (I think it was around then - I'm terrible at remembering how old people are!).

Since I can't be there to give you your gift in person, I'll just have to get creative.

So...

Get ready to open your gift!!

Open the bag and pull the little box out...

Open the box and pull the little packet out...

Open the paper and begin to see...

Happy birthday!! I hope you like it!!

We saw this necklace at a store when Melissa was visiting in May and she just LOVED it. So I went back to buy it, and while they no longer had the same necklace, they had this one that's almost the same.

I hope you can enjoy it just as much as you would have the other!

Since I'll be seeing you in just over a month, I decided to hold on to it to give it to you in person. Plus...now you'll have time to look for some matching earrings!!

I love you Big Sister!

A Family Affair

2009-06-15T04:35:00.000-07:00

On My 20th, 2009 my Mom arrived to Spain for her second visit.

To start the trip off, we went to Barcelona. I had been there once before but it was for a conference so I didn't have much time to do any "touristy" things. So we went for two days and saw everything we could possibly squeeze in, beginning with the cathedral.

While we toured they were having mass so I stopped to listen. I must say, I was quite heart-broken by what I heard. The priest was talking about heaven (a topic about which we all like to hear) and how we will spend eternity in the presence of God. That sounds great to me! But then he began to say that the way to heaven is by living a good life, and that those parents who love their children will baptize them so that, should they not live good lives, they will still be allowed to enter heaven. It broke my heart to see the people in the pews listening, knowing that they trust this man to give them words of life, and instead he is leading them down a road that leads only to death, for we know that "it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no man can boast." (Eph 2:8-9)

But I shall continue with our visit.

Later we went to the Aquarium, which is supposed to be the largest in Europe. If you want to make me happy, take me to the zoo or the aquarium. I will then be your best friend for life. This aquarium had a really awesome shark tank (the kind with the moving sidewalk and the tunnel effect) and I finally figured out what one of my favorite fish (to eat) is! Here in Spain you see "sepia a la plancha" on menus all the time, and I must say that it's quite delicious, but I've always wondered what the fish actually is. Well, it's cuttlefish! These guys:

I'll be honest, I'm glad I ate the fish before I saw the live version of it. I'm not sure I would have had the bravery to eat him knowing what he really looks like.

Our second day was our "Day of Gaudí". We went to the Sagrada Familia, Casa Batlló (but only from the outside, they were both expensive and the Sagrada Familia had a LONG line), and toured La Pedrera, which means "the rock quarry."

The top of the building looks like ice cream cones, but the outside of the building looks like smooth boulders (sort of), which is where it got it's name from.

Then on the 26th my sister, brother-in-law, his mom, and my niece and nephew came! I can't tell you how awesome it was to finally see them, and show them this place that has captured my heart, and see Garrett and Vivian who are so much bigger than they were the last time I saw them!

The first day they were exhausted, so to keep them awake I took them to the park where the kids played on the playground and fed ducks and goldfish in the pond, and then we ate at a neat little café before letting them crash at the apartment they had rented. Little did we know that our first day would leave such an impression on the kids. All week long all they wanted to do was go back to the park.

Really, who needs more than a playground and some ducks? Apparently that's the key to happiness in life. While you can't see the water, they're feeding the ducks in this picture.

I ended up spending the night at their apartment a few nights. Even when I didn't, usually they were just having breakfast when I arrived at their place, meaning that every morning I got to wake up to this:

After calling my sister's house my home for so long and living with them during my transition period, it sure felt good to see those precious faces in the morning again.

We also toured the palace, went to the zoo, rode the cable car over the city, had some of my friends over for dinner, saw a flamenco show, and visited the majority of the playgrounds in the city.

Now most people who know me well know that I'm terrified of birds. I had a bad experience. So at the zoo, we went to the bird show. It wasn't my idea, I can assure you of that. But I didn't want to be a party pooper and since everybody else was interested, I wasn't going to say anything. Besides, they're all trained birds, right? At one point a hawk flew out and landed on somebody in the audience's head, way on the other side of the stage. I thought, "whew! I'm so glad that's over there." And then...it flew over and landed on...my sister's head. Right next to me.

I knew what came next. I squeezed my fists, closed my eyes, and prepared myself for the worst. It hopped onto my head. I could feel it's claws in my scalp. I could feel it's mighty weight, pressing down on me. And just as soon as it began, it was all over.

I realize that my fear of birds is slightly irrational, therefore I don't jump and scream every time a pigeon crosses my path. But a hawk? On my head? Talk about immersion therapy. When I opened my eyes again I was laughing and crying, rational enough to recognize the humor in the situation but still unable to control the tears. My wonderful brother-in-law was astute enough to get a few seconds of the moment on video. I'm sure my red face will be posted all over the internet very soon.

On their next-to-last day we took a day trip to Segovia. We saw the Roman aqueduct (how can you miss it?) the cathedral, and the Cinderella Castle, as Vivian called it.

Finally it was time for them to go home, and I could hardly believe that it was over so quickly. Those eight days flew by and I think we only accomplished half of the activities planned, but that was okay, because the number one activity - just enjoying each other's presence - was completed. Saying goodbye at the airport I was able to laugh and have fun knowing that I'll be seeing them soon - in August, to be exact - when I move back to Texas. But until then, I've got a plethora of good memories to dwell on. :)

Family!!

2009-05-31T14:37:00.001-07:00

I've been AWOL lately because

1) I've been busy

and

2) My family is here visiting.

So far it's been a pretty crazy adventure. There have been quite a few "blog worthy" moments (trip to the theatre, trying to make it to church, buying the wrong train tickets...) but the madness of our days seems to blur my memory so that I'm not quite sure just what I've done these past twelve days since my mom arrived, and I've even less an idea of what has happened since my sister, brother-in-law, his mom, and my niece and nephew arrived last Tuesday.

But I hope to regain my mental capacities in a short while and when I do, I'll be sure to fill you in on all the quirky details.

Art and Ice Cream

2009-04-30T14:40:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about Europe is the art.

It's accessible to the public.

It's often free (or at least there are certain times when it's free).

It's everywhere - in museums, in parks, on buildings, in the streets.

Art is a daily part of life.

Classic.

Modern.

Historical.

Paintings.

Sculptures.

Video.

Music.

Crazy modern things that have no names.

It's everywhere and in everything.

You just can't help but appreciate it:

But sometimes you find it in the most unlikely places.

Like in a bathroom.

On the towel dispenser.

It doesn't surprise me to find a sticker like that in a bathroom. Given that it's a kid having a poo while reading a book, I can't think of a more appropriate place to put it than a bathroom, except maybe a library bathroom.

But what I wonder is, who thought it would be a good idea to make a sticker with a silhouette pooper?

Who decided to print those up?

What purpose was it meant to serve, if any?

What did the man at the sticker factory think of them?

Where did they sell the stickers? Are they still for sale? Can I buy some?

What kind of label did they put on them?

"Stinker Sticker?"

In other news, last week was FREE ICE CREAM DAY at Ben & Jerry's, which is only the most delicious ice cream that ever existed. If it weren't for the price, I would prefer it even to Blue Bell ("GASP!" go all the Texans).

My friend Kaotar and I met up to go get some free scoops, but before we could go she had to give something to Aisha, who was taking care of sweet little Ayu for the afternoon. As Aisha had nothing to do, and Ayu is 5, we decided to all go together. Who can't resist free ice cream?

We started out at the Ben & Jerry's at Sol and ate our scoop as we walked to Plaza Mayor where the other Ben & Jerrry's is located. On the way we saw musicians, clowns, a crazy llama dude, a magician, a man covered in plastic fruit, and various other street statue/performer people.

Ayu was in heaven. He got TWO WHOLE SCOOPS of ice cream AND saw all kinds of fun things in shop windows AND got his picture taken with the man covered in plastic fruit. What 5 year old wouldn't love that?

Aisha and Ayu left us and then Katoar and I continued on to meet my friend Paola for a third scoop of the deliciously sweet frozen calories. And it was worth each and every one of them. :)

María

2009-04-18T14:58:00.000-07:00

The first time I saw María I was waiting for my drink at the end of the bar in Starbucks. Suddenly her little head ran across the store at table height as she accosted Roberto, who was making my tall mocha (two pumps, no whip cream), and demanded, "Give me a chocolate!"

Roberto was caught off-guard by her boldness. He hesitated.

"Um, go ask your parents."

And off she went, running back to the register where her father was ordering a frappaccino.

A few weeks later I sat by myself in a nook of four comfy armchairs and her parents approached and asked, "do you mind if we sit here?"

I recognized the tiny-tot immediately.

They sat and the madness began. All the energy of an atomic bomb, the cuteness of a toddler, the sass of a teenager, and an ability of speech far beyond my own wrapped up in a tiny little three year old adult with marker all over her face. Her parents are both actors, and it doesn't take long to realize that María has inheirited the drama-gene, particularly of the comedic variety.

Tonight I saw her family sitting by the door and waved from across the café. Not five minutes later while I sat on my comfy sofa chair María, accompanied by her mom, dad, two of their friends and her baby brother joined me and a poor, slightly overwhelmed stranger in my nook, bringing with them all the noise and energy they could offer. Apparently María wanted to say hi to me, and since they were sitting by the door in a cold draft and saw that I was by myself in a warm corner, they decided to relocate all together so that I would have some company and they could have some warmth. :)

Tonight María had a butterfly, heart, and a flower drawn on her face. She wore a brightly striped dress over a purple long-sleeved shirt and kelly-green aladdin pants. She looked just like a little hippy, without a care in the world.

At one point her mother told her that I'm studying their language. I said, "that's right, so I'm still learning how to speak like you" and she told me that her brother only knows how to say, "AAAAHHH." Well, I suppose that makes sense, seeing as how he's not yet a year old.

Then she pulled up her sleeve, bent her arm and stuck her elbow out, pointed at it and said, "look at this!"

Thinking there must be a boo-boo or a freckle of some sort, I asked, "what is it?"

She responded with, "my elbow, of course!" and looked at me as if I were the most dense person she had ever met. How could I not know what an elbow was?

We all had a good laugh and then I said, "Yes, but what's on it?" (Keep in mind that the word of "on" is the same as the word for "in").

"Bone," with a sweet smile.

Of course. Common sense.

She then extended her arm so that her elbow disappeared and declared, "and now it's gone! It's magic!"

She then took an umbrella, dropped it behind her and held up her empty hands while saying, "ta da!"

We asked, "where did it go?"

"It flew away."

Simple as that. The umbrella flew away.

Can we all go back to being three again? How much fun would that be? We can jump in puddles, make our lap disappear, and drink caramel cream frappaccinos without worrying about how many calories we're consuming.

Life is so beautiful when you're three. :)

Paris, City of Light

2009-04-13T14:40:00.001-07:00

Last week, another childhood dream became a reality:

I went to Paris!!

The week before Easter is "Spring Break" not only for all the students here, but also for the majority of work force. Last year, I was uninformed of the mass exodus of the general populace and was left alone with no friends and nothing to do. It was lame, to say the least.

I decided that this year would be different. No lonely Laura in 2009. No sir-ee.

So I took part in the coordinated, overpriced group exit of the country and went to Paris with a few friends, along with a third of the rest of the country.

Now, some people rave about how absolutely faaa-bulous Paris is, while others shrug and say, "it's alright."

And of course, we all hear stories about how rude the French are.

And let's face it: I've come across some of those French who have left such a "memorable" impression on the rest of the world and thus marred the French reputation for all eternity.

But I must say: everybody was so polite, helpful, even friendly. I was very pleasantly surprised. Not that they all wanted to best friend, but I had already accepted that not everybody says "Howdy" a few months after leaving Aggieland (otherwise known as Utopia).

We saw just about everything there is to see in Paris, at least as much as our budgets would allow. We saw (and went to the top of) the Eiffel Tower:

We took a day trip to the palace in Versailles:

We went to the Louvre:

And we picnic-ed and ate pastries in the park, surrounded by tulips:

In general we had great weather. It rained a few times, but mostly while we were inside museums, and when we did have to face the elements, we chose to enjoy the moment rather than run for cover:

I am now one of those who will rave about how faaaaa-bulous Paris is. Yes, it is overpriced, but that's the reason why I ate homemade salad and leftover lasagna every night for the past month, and it was worth every bite of frostbitten veggie lasagna.

Speaking of being a thrifty spender, my dad would be very proud of me.

At the airport while trying to decide which overpriced meal we were going to purchase, I noticed a tray of trash, just waiting for the food court employees to throw to the trash can, with a sad, lonely, unopened yogurt.

That yogurt called to me.

It cried out for help.

"Laura! Save me! They're going to throw me away! Don't let them throw me away! I haven't expired yet! I'm still cold! I must be eaten!"

I looked around.

Nobody was coming to claim that tray of trash.

I waited a minute.

Still nobody.

So I saved the yogurt from a sad, lonely fate in the trash can, where he didn't belong.

And it was tasty, too.

After 5 full days of fun, from 4:30am Monday morning to 2am Friday night (Saturday morning), we were pooped!

Paris may have been expensive, and our hostel may have been creepy, but it was worth every penny spent and parasite we might have contracted. I look forward to the day I go back.

Dreaming About Doughnuts

2009-03-17T07:48:00.000-07:00

They say that what you eat influences what you dream.

Lately I've been eating a lot of salad (spinach salad, to be exact), and having a lot of tasty (and guilty) dreams.

For example, the other night I dreamed that I went to Dunkin' Donuts and ate a glazed chocolate cake doughnut (the same kind in the picture above), but then I saw that they had cinnamon rolls and I really, really wanted one because they looked just like the ones they sold at the doughnut shop down the street when I was a kid (do you remember those, Mom? They were soooo good). I struggled with the decision: eat a cinnamon roll, even though you've already had a doughnut? Or do the right thing and walk on by? I'm pretty sure I ate the cinnamon roll, since I woke up feeling guilty.

Then I went to Starbucks, but instead of being a customer, I worked there. People kept on ordering a "café cortado" but the espresso machine gave me a different amount each time, so I couldn't get the coffee to milk ratio right. How frustrating! Not to mention that you can't actually get a "café cortado" at Starbucks. But hey - anything can happen when it's a dream!

Hm. So I ate salad, and I dreamed about doughnuts, cinnamon rolls, and coffee. Interesting.

Then last night (after eating salad again) I dreamed that I was walking through the Hipercor grocery store looking for some kind of pink yummy deliciousness (it was a made up pastry that surely doesn't exist in the non-dream world). While walking through the aisles I saw all kinds of ham, chorizo, and sausages, peanut butter, and various other tasty eats while in search of my mysterious pink baked good. My alarm clock woke me up before I was able to find it, so at least I was saved from the stress of having to decide if one moment of heaven for my taste buds was worth the miles I would have to run to undue such catastrophic caloric havoc.

After eating salad for dinner two nights in a row, I've dreamed about sugary-sweet, baked confections two nights in a row.

So I'm wondering: if tonight I eat doughnuts for dinner, will I dream about salad?

Friends! Bowling! Food! Fire!

2009-03-10T08:12:00.001-07:00

Last Thursday night while facebook stalking, I realized that somebody was passing through my town. And that somebody was...

Amber!!

Amber and I were in Phi Lamb together at A&M (and IMPACT, too) and I hadn't seen her in a year and a half. She didn't even realize I was living here, so she had already been here 2 or 3 days when I found out she was in town. Luckily, she had a phone so we were able to coordinate and get together for a few hours Friday afternoon. What a happy surprise!

Then on Saturday night, my home group from church went bowling.

I started the night off with a strike! I was hoping that was a good sign, but alas, my luck slowly ran out from there. I LOVE bowling, but I'm really hard on myself because I took a class at A&M and therefore should theoretically be a super bowler. Sadly, however, I am not. I'm pretty good at knocking down 9 pins but I can just never seem to get all 10! Despite my sad score I still had a great time.

Then my friend Damaris invited me to her parent's house for Sunday lunch.

We had a dish called "Cocido" which basically means "cooked." It's a traditional dish all over the country, but each region has it's own special way of doing it. At her parents house, we started with a soup with a thick broth and noodles. Here I am with my soup:

Then you have a selection of other ingredients, that you can either add to the soup to make a stew, or eat separately. Like this cabbage:

I chose to eat mine all together, like a stew on steroids:

My plate included cabbage with fried garlic, garbanzo beans, chicken, a pig's ear, some other kind of meat (it was good, whatever it was), and chorizo.

Chorizo is one of my favorite things ever. Too bad it makes you fat (everything good does).

The pig's ear, however, was not my favorite. It didn't taste bad, but in general I don't like eating stuff that has skin on it. Even chicken, unless that fatty chicken skin is super crispy, I don't care for it. And well, pigskin is no better. The meat was fine, but the skin...was kinda like a chewy, tasty football. But hey, at least now I know!

Then on the way home from church that night I hopped on the metro only to smell something like burning rubber. At first it was just a smell, but soon the car began to fill up with smoke. We all got off and saw that the smoke was coming from underneath where we had been sitting. The driver ordered everybody off and soon somebody had a fire extinguisher and put out the flames. I walked a little ways off from the scene and took a picture after the fact:

It may look like any normal metro station, but what you can't see in this picture is the smoke. There was a lot of it, but because it was a few cars down the platform (I didn't want to take a picture right where it happened - what if it blew up or something?) and a bit had cleared by the time I got my camera out, you can't see just how dramatic the scene was. But use your imagination. There was a lot of smoke.

In case you're wondering (and I'm sure my mom is), I did NOT get back on the metro that night. I walked the 25ish minutes home from there in the cold, dark night. :)

In other news, I ate a pomegranate today and got juice all over my shirt. I have a feeling this shirt will never be the same colo(u)r again.

Sin and Salvation

2009-03-05T01:21:00.000-08:00

Growing up, the Word of God was always around me. Family, friends, church - nearly everybody I spent any significant amount of time with was a Christian. I still found plenty of opportunities to sin (oh how those memories pain me!), but the constant support and accountability of the believers around me protected me from so much more than I could know.

Today during my devotional, God reminded me that despite my outwardly "clean" record*, I must stay on guard against sin in my life.

Butch (my pastor in college) always said that ANYBODY is capable of ANY sin.

I believed him - never doubted for one moment.

I knew that I sinned (and still do) every day, and while in general those sins tend to be what in human terms we might consider "insignificant," NO SIN is ever "insignificant" in God's eyes.

God said "Be holy, because I am holy." (Lev 11:45)

And just like he did for the Israelites, God gives us a choice:

"See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees, and laws...now choose life so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." (Deut 28:15-20)

It seems so simple, right?

Choose life. Avoid sin. Simple as that.

But in our striving for holiness we find ourselves identifying with Paul:

"What I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do...I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out...for in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members." (Romans 7:15-23)

Now that I'm living outside of my "Christian bubble" I see that there are opportunities to sin all around me. It's so much easier for me to understand why non-Christians live the way they do.

Sometimes sin even looks like fun. If it didn't, nobody would ever do it.

It would be so easy for me to sin. Nobody would ever have to know about it.

But God would know.

His Holy Spirit living in me would convict me.

The blood of Christ that covers all my sins, past, present and future, is on my hands.

Thankfully, that same blood that is on my hands is the blood that saves me. That blood washes me white as snow.

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, be we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we now have received reconciliation." (Romans 5:8-11)

But our reconciliation with God - God's grace, his forgiveness and mercy - does not give us a license to continue sinning.

Just because the command to be holy was in the Old Testament doesn't mean it no longer applies.

"As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy.'" 1 Peter 1:14-16 (That's the NEW Testament in case you're unsure!)

"Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." 1 Peter 2:11-12

There are a lot more verses like that, but I'll let two suffice for the moment.

God had to tell us so many times because we are hard-headed and stubborn. He wasn't kidding. He REALLY does want us to be holy. Not just "kinda sorta" holy, but REALLY holy. And as holy as you may think you are, let us not forget that ANYBODY is capable of ANY sin.

Recently I found out that two people, Christians, who many looked up to as Godly leaders, are suffering the consequences of sin. **

I never would have expected it from them. It broke my heart - for them, for their ministries, for younger Christians who looked to them as examples, and because I know that their sin pains the heart of God.

I've spent most of the past week thinking, "How could this happen? What went wrong?" I feel like something is squeezing my insides, making me sick.

Butch's words resound once again: ANYBODY is capable of ANY sin.

And I KNOW that I too am capable of the same sin. We all are.

In Luke 11:24-26, Jesus says,

"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first."

Now most of us probably haven't been possessed by an evil spirit, but we ALL most certainly are tempted by them on a daily basis.

And isn't it true that whenever we give our lives to Christ and He frees us from that sin, Satan gets ticked off and comes back to tempt us again?

The enemy wants to make us slaves again.

Thankfully, if we are already sealed by the Holy Spirit, he can never again have our souls. But he can make us ineffective. He can overwhelm us with guilt. He is, after all, the great accuser. We can fall back into the same old sin. And it certainly won't be any better the second time around.

No amount of strength, determination, or willpower of my own will prevent me from falling into my old sin or any new ones, for that matter.

"For it is by grace you have been saved - through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9

My works can't save me. Only the grace of God can do that.

I can "sweep up" and "put in order" all I want, but unless there is somebody living inside my house who is more powerful than the one who comes to "steal, kill, and destroy," I'm fair game and I WILL fall.***

Jesus wasn't kidding when he said that our flesh is weak:

"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." Matthew 26:41

Maybe it's just me, but my flesh is particularly weak. Put a block of chocolate in front of me, and it's gone in a moment. A good looking guy says some pretty words to me, and my mind has gone places it shouldn't. Show me a pretty girl who sings beautifully, plays sports like a superstar, and saves children in Africa, all with perfect hair and jealously begins to seep in. You think I'm kidding but I'm not (it always seemed like there were lots of girls like that at Texas A&M!).

So what are we to do?

Live in the Spirit.

The same Holy Spirit that lives in you and me as believers is the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. We have access to the power of the Spirit (see Eph 1:19-20)

Paul says in Galatians 5:16:

"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature."

He also states that "the acts of the sinful nature are obvious" in verse 19. I can totally picture Paul saying "it's so oooobvious." He probably considered putting a "duh" in there, but refrained so as not to insult anybody's intelligence.

Paul goes into a little more detail about how to do this:

"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints." Eph 6:13-18

Interesting.

Christ told us to WATCH and PRAY.

Paul said to PRAY and BE ALERT (which sounds kinda like "watch," right?).

Jesus fought the devil's temptations with scripture.

Paul said to take the "sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

Psalm 119:11 says, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."

So we should PRAY.

BE ALERT.

And KNOW THE WORD.

The devil is out there prowling around, looking for ways to make us fall. For those who don't know the Lord, the devil wants to keep you from experiencing the abundant life that Christ offers.

For those of us who have given our lives to Christ, the devil doesn't want anybody else to know the Lord as a result of your testimony. So he's going to try to make you fall. And in the process, he will steal your joy.

We are all sure to fall sometimes. We all make mistakes. Paul spoke to Christ on the road to Damascus and still struggled. Peter spent 3 years with Jesus, watching his miracles and still denied him three times. David, who God called a man after his own heart, was an adulterer and a murderer. And yet Romans 8:1-2 says:

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death."

Christ came to set us free from sin. So let's BE FREE.

In conclusion, here's the dealio (a summary, if you will):

We're all sinners. (Romans 3:23)

God wants us to be holy because he is holy (Leviticus 11:45)

We can't be holy on our own, so he sent his son Christ to die for us. He then rose from the dead to conquer death prove his divinity. (1 Corinthians 15:1-5)

If we put our trust in Christ, we are reconciled to God - we are "saved" from our sins. (Romans 10:9-10)

Once we are Christians, our flesh and our spirit will continue battling, but even when we sin again, Christ's blood has already provided forgiveness. So the goal is to minimize this sin and live lives that are pleasing to him. We do this by living in the Spirit. (Romans 7)

We live in the Spirit by:

PRAYING.

Knowing and applying his WORD.

Staying ALERT.

Well, that's the simplified version anyway.

*I say it's an outwardly "clean" record because most people look at me and say, "that's a good person." I never slept around, got drunk, got in trouble with the police, etc. But despite all of that, I know that in my heart I am NOT AT ALL a good person and my sin is just as ugly as the next person's.

**I mention this not to condemn these people but to show that even the most Godly people can make terrible mistakes. Those who are in leadership (official or unofficial) must be even more careful to be above reproach. The rest of us must be careful not to place anybody on a pedestal. Man will always fail us. Only God is worthy of our trust and he will always be faithful.

***As somebody who already has the Holy Spirit living in me, I cannot lose my salvation. But I can choose to ignore the Spirit's leading and open the door to temptation. Temptation is always calling, but it is my choice whether or not to give in.

Psalm 19

2009-03-03T06:56:00.000-08:00

The heavens declare the glory of god;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.

In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,
which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is hidden from its heat.

The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul.
the statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
the precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
the fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The ordinances of the Lord are sure
and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the comb.
By them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.

Who can discern his errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then will I be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.

May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Did He Just Laugh??

2009-02-25T06:28:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had to get my residency renewed, which involved several phone calls, waiting in line at one office, going to another office, a few tears, more waiting, and finally a few stamps and directions to wait some more.

Well, anybody who has known me for a while knows that I've changed a LOT in the past 6ish years.

My passport picture was taken 60 pounds ago, and on that particular day, my hair (which was cut very short) was not cooperating, and when the AWFUL picture came out, the lady in charge wouldn't let me take another one. So now I'm stuck with it.

Every now and then customs agents, bank workers, and whoever else looks at my passport will do a double-take or raise an eyebrow, and once somebody even commented on how much I had changed.

But yesterday at the immigration office....

Dude straight up LAUGHED.

He took one look and couldn't hold it in.

He didn't have any shame about it, either.

He didn't even try to hide it. Or even apologize.

He just kept on laughing, while I, taken aback, said, "yeah, I know, it's terrible".

Lucky for him, I'm not easily offended. And I must admit, it is funny. Especially when I'm having a good hair day (which I was yesterday) and wearing makeup (which I was yesterday), it looks like I'm some exaggerated before-and-after TLC stunt.

I would put the amazingly awful picture on here for you all to see, but I'm not gonna lie....there's no way I'm about to put that thing on the internet for all the world to see. Not on my life.

In other news, the sun came out recently. It's been wonderful! My friend Kaotar and I took advantage of a sunny Saturday afternoon and went to the park to play frisbee.

After a while Kaotar realized that she lost the pendant on her necklace (that her mom gave her when she was a little girl!), so we spent a good 30-45 minutes scouring the grass looking for it.

A man and his 6 year old son came along and helped us look. When Kaotar decided it was time to give up, we all started playing frisbee together.

Here I am showing off my awesome frisbee skills:

After a few minutes I looked to my right to see two little boys standing there.

You know how little kids do...

They were too shy to ask if they could play, so they just stood there, staring at me, until I noticed.

I asked, "do y'all want to play?"

They both nodded their heads vigorously.

Pretty soon the couple making out nearby decided it was time to move. That was when the real fun began.

No more worrying about knocking them in the head or running over them trying to catch a frisbee gone array.

It was great. The kids were adorable and they learned really quickly how to throw the frsibee fairly decent.

The 6 year old's dad kept cracking us up by calling out the score every time somebody messed up.

"Chile 5, United States 0"

"Spain 2, Morocco 1"

He was from Chile so every time he and his son had success, he awarded themselves more points.

Here are the 3 adorable boys:

When they got tired of playing frisbee they decided to "clean" the area. They went around gathering sticks, leaves, anything they could find, and putting them in this hole. They said it was so we could find Kaotar's pendant easier, but I think really it was just because they're boys and they like any excuse to play with sticks.

They say it's going to get cold again this week, and while I'm sad to see the beautiful weather go, I'm glad it came for a visit.

I can hardly wait for Spring!!

Decision Making!

2009-02-24T12:50:00.000-08:00

I'm not good at it.

Well, it's not that I'm not good at it...in general I would say I make pretty good decisions. The problem is, it usually takes me a LONG time to make them, and the general process is usually borderline traumatic.*

Last May I did this exhaustive personality test that covers all the major points and tells you what your goals are, what your usual behavior is, what causes you stress, how you respond to that stress, gives suggestions on how to manage stress in that particular area, and oh so much more.

Today I was reminded about this personality test and decided to have a look through the results again, since it's been quite a long time since looking at it.

One of my pages on decision making says this:

"You generally dislike making quick or snap decisions. It is your nature to think things through carefully before acting. You are able to see many shades of gray, and consider the subtle sides of issues that others may miss.

Strengths: thoughtful, reflective, concerned about consequences

Need: It is important for you to have ample time to carry out your thoughtful approach to making decisions - looking carefully at all aspects of issues and considering the consequences of each.

Causes of stress: Since you constantly think of other ways that a project could be handled, you may have difficulty coping with a problem in a casual manner. Being pushed to make a decision can you make you feel rushed and hurried, leading to feelings of insecurity.

Possible reactions when needs are not met: indecision, over-emphasis on future, negative reaction to quick decisions."

There's quite a bit more, but this was the basic summary.

At the moment, I'm currently trying to make some big decisions (how much longer to stay here? Where should I go to seminary? What degree should I seek? Should I take some business courses as well?). I still have a bit of time left (a month, more or less, on the seminary bit) so thankfully I'm not yet to the stress point.

So let me ask you:

What do you think are some important things I should consider before making my final decision? Any tips on going about making the decision? If you've been to/are in seminary, what suggestions do you have?

Some of the tips suggested to me through the personality test are:
Establish a schedule
Make a list of pros and cons
Focus on one or two options at a time and slowly narrow them down

Anybody got anymore advice? How do you make decisions?

*The major exception to this general rule is when I decided to go to Texas A&M. While I still followed my general process of checking out options, considering consequences, etc, the moment I saw the giant "Welcome to Aggieland" water tower I pretty much made up my mind, even though it was only the second university I considered. The campus tour and advisor meeting that followed just served to reinforce my gut feeling and justify my seemingly snap decision.

Snow!!

2009-02-14T16:12:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I woke up one morning to a beautiful surprise - snow!!

Not just a few small flakes, but full, fat flakes falling in full force. (How's that for an alliteration?)

It wasn't long before the whole city was covered in a sheet of white.

My friend Elena was visiting me that week, so since we had no commitments for the day, we decided to head towards the park and enjoy the snow. Thankfully she had her camera with her, so even though mine was broken at the time, I still took a million pictures.

On the way we passed the Christmas tree by my house (the city took their sweet time taking down Christmas decorations). It looks as though the picture is in black and white, but really there was just so much snow, but if you look carefully you can see a little bit of color in the traffic light.

We got in touch with another friend and later my roommate and after quite a few snowball fights through the park, we set to work building a snow man. That day the whole city came out to the park, and there were snow men on every corner. The gardeners made make-shift sleds out of plastic bags and cardboard and took turns sledding down the hill by our snow man.

On our way out of the park we got a nice view of the city rooftops all covered in snow. What a beautiful day!!

Finally Photos!

2009-02-12T14:48:00.000-08:00

I finally bought a new camera!!

I'm so thrilled that I can take pictures again, and can't wait to get started, especially since the cow parade is in town!

As you might remember, I dropped my camera on the hard kitchen floor back in November, and along with my camera, the fall broke my heart.

My camera was my best friend (as far as inanimate objects go). She went everywhere with me. She fit perfectly in my pocket, purse, or handbag. She took beautiful pictures. She made me look really hot.

And then I dropped her.

Seeing as how digital cameras cost a pretty penny, I couldn't exactly just run to the store and grab a new one.

So for the past 3 1/2 months, I've gone without my best inanimate friend ever. I traveled to visit friends, I visited my mom, I saw more than an inch of snow for the first time in the town where I live, I saw art exhibits, I created memories with new friends and old friends...all without my best friend. I borrowed every friend's camera that I possibly could. I still don't have my hands on some of those pictures (but don't worry...there's supposed to be a CD in the mail for me).

But right now is sale season. For most of January and February nearly everything is on sale. After February, it all goes back to it's normal price until August and September, when they have a second round of sales.

If you don't get what you want during sale season, you're out of luck.

So I thought I'd look around and see if I could find a good deal.

I looked in a ton of stores, online and in-store. I looked at a second hand website. I even looked at buying one in the US and having it shipped here to save on the dollar/euro conversion (USPS flat-rate boxes make shipping quite affordable, especially for heavy stuff).

And by a stroke of luck I walked into the Corte Inglés department store to find that in addition to the winter sale price, they were having an extra 10% off for Valentine's Day.

And since I've never had a Valentine of my own, and everywhere else (even in the US) was selling the same (or similar) model for at least 20 Euros more....

I decided to be my own Valentine. :)

So happy Valentine's Day to me, from me.

And now I can take pictures!! I can hardly wait!!

But I'm wondering - what do I do with my old camera, the broken one? The lens is stuck half-way out and it only turns on long enough to say "lens malfunction" and then turns back off.

You can't just throw away a camera, can you?

What do I do with it?

I Nearly Cried

2009-02-10T06:42:00.000-08:00

Today I walked into one of my favorite restaurants, a vegetarian buffet, to grab some lunch on the way home. I usually love everything there, but I have to be careful because they use a lot of walnuts, and I'm allergic.

Upon entering, my eyes were immediately drawn to a fabulous looking pasta salad, much better even than the one in the photo.

This pasta salad had spiral pasta, cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, feta cheese, baby spinach, and to top it all off....pesto. Oh how I love a good pesto.

Before loading a to-go box full of the delectable looking dish, I had the soundness of mind to ask, just to be sure, if there were any nuts hidden in there.

The girl thought for a moment, and then stated that there were probably pine nuts in the pesto.

"Pine nuts are fine."

"Let me ask the cook real quick, just to be sure."

She came back with the tragic news.

Instead of using pine nuts like any normal pesto, they use walnuts.

Why must they spoil a good thing??? Everybody else makes their pesto with pine nuts, and the whole world loves it! Haven't they ever heard, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"??

"Are you sure it's not pine nuts? Pesto is normally made with pine nuts." (the word for "walnut" is just "nut", so sometimes there's confusion when I'm asking what kind of nut something is)

"I know but our restaurant makes it with walnuts."

As pathetic as it may sound, I almost cried just then.

I stood there staring at the buffet, longing for the pesto, knowing it was poison to me, and I felt the tears welling up inside me.

The man paying for his own meal looked at me with pity.

I lingered a moment, trying to decide if there was something else on the buffet that might interest me.

Bean salad: walnuts.

Vegetable omelette: walnuts

Crepes: walnuts

Everything on the buffet today either had walnuts or looked completely unappetizing.

I said "thank you" and walked on out.

I considered going to the grocery store, but at 2pm the olive man and the cheese man and all the yummy things men go home to eat their own delicious, non-poisonous lunches.

I considered going home and trying to throw something together out of the randomness that is my refrigerator at the moment, but at the moment there's not a vegetable to be found in there.

So I went to Starbucks to get a nice, healthy turkey/onion/spinach sandwich on cranberry bread and of course, they were all out. I was too late.

Crushed, I opted for my second favorite, chicken pesto, which although delicious, has not a single vegetable aside from the tiny pieces of sun-dried tomato in the bread.

Margarita said, "here's Laura, back home again."

They love me at Starbucks. And I love them. I should have known that going anywhere else would be a bitter disappointment, but I did it anyway, and I paid for it. I'll never make that mistake again.

But it's okay. They'll have another turkey/onion/spinach on cranberry bread sandwich waiting for me tomorrow. And it will be gloriously sublime.

We've Made Progress!!

2009-02-05T04:38:00.000-08:00

My next door neighbor is scary.

He yells a lot.

He yelled at me once, and called me "woman!" It reminded me of my grandfather.

My roommate is slightly (okay, more than slightly) terrified of him.

I've taken him and his wife cookies a million times and they've still never invited me in for coffee, acted appreciative, told me later that they were yummy, brought me some home-made treat...

I've lived here for over a year and while we interact on at least a weekly basis, our conversations are usually short, superficial, or involve him yelling at me (like that one time the door was stuck and he yelled, "what do you want me to say??").

But TODAY....

I was downstairs at the bakery buying bread and a donut (they have the BEST donuts there!! They're dipped in chocolate or white chocolate and the inside melts in your mouth) when he came in.

As I walked out he said, "adios guapa!"

That was the FIRST time he's ever used the diminutive "guapa" for me!! That's a BIG deal!!

"Guapa" means pretty, beautiful, or handsome (in a feminine way) but is also a very common diminutive used among friends, neighbors, even strangers.

For example, most of the little old ladies in my building call me "guapa" when we pass on the stairs or on the street.

Most of the time you go get a cup of coffee the bartender calls you "guapa."

When a friend sends you a text message they say, "Hola guapa!"

You also get the creepy men in street grunting it at you, which I am anything but fond of, but aside from that it's a quite pleasant way of referring to any female with which you have some sort of interaction.

And after more than a year, my grumpy, kermudgin neighbor smiled and said, "adios, guapa!"

Yay!!

Next step: get his wife to speak more than 2 words to me.

January 31st

2009-01-31T05:03:00.000-08:00

At approximately 9:35pm tonight it will have been 7 years since I lost my dad.

I had almost forgotten until I looked out the window this morning to see the temperature on the pharmacy sign across the street, when the date, January 31st, flashed across the digital sign.

I thought of my mom for a moment, and then went for a run. I forgot again.

After running I sat on my living room floor, stretching and listening to my ipod when this song came on, and I remembered again.

Yesterdays
by Switchfoot

Flowers cut and brought inside
Black cars in a single line
Your family in suits and ties
And you're free

The ache I feel inside
Is where the life has left your eyes
I'm alone for our last goodbye
But you're free

I remember you like yesterday, yesterday
I still can't believe you're gone
I remember you like yesterday, yesterday
And until I'm with you, I'll carry on

Adrift on your ocean floor
I feel weightless, numb, and sore
A part of you in me is torn
And you're free

I woke from a dream last night
I dreamt that you were by my side
Reminding me I still had life
In me

I'll carry on

Every lament is a love song
Yesterday, yesterday
I still can't believe you're gone
So long my friend, so long

It's interesting: I really did have a dream about him the other night. I can't remember what happened, but I do remember he was helping me make an important decision, and and it felt so good, so natural, to have him there, guiding me with his words of wisdom.

I woke up feeling so content, so secure.

I miss that.

If you happen to read this today, please say a prayer for my family, especially my mom.

A Language Milestone

2009-01-27T15:23:00.000-08:00

The past week I've had two huge language milestones.

It's not that I said, heard, or learned anything spectacularly profound, but rather just two small, almost forgettable moments in which I realized that, despite persistent struggles with vocabulary, idioms, crazy accents that cut out the "s" of words, etc, I really have come a long way.

Moment 1:

Saturday night. I was walking down the street with two Americans when I heard some locals say, "look at the 'guiris' here..."

"Guiri" is a word used for tourists, particularly Northern Europeans or Americans. It often implies somebody who is wide-eyed, doesn't know where they're going, taking pictures of everything, getting in the way, wearing goofy tourist clothes, or annoying study abroad students who run about making loud spectacles everywhere they go.

Well these guys were talking about us, who at the moment were involved in none of the aforementioned activities but merely walking down the street.

So I turned around and said in their language, "I understand you. I speak your language."

What a wonderful feeling that was!! It was a small moment, but it felt so good to throw those guys for a loop!!

Moment 2:

Yesterday on my way home I passed through the train station and decided to buy a sandwich at the snack shop. I silently handed the clerk my sandwich, she rang it up, pointed to the price on the screen and I paid her. When she handed me my change and receipt I said to her, "have a nice day!" I must say, my accent was dang good that day, which might explain her reaction.

She let out a little scream and put her hand over her mouth, her eyes as wide as saucers. She said, "oh my goodness! I thought you were Polish or something...I had no idea you were a...oh wow, I thought you were a foreigner, that's why I pointed at the price...wow, it's just you look..."

She was stumbling over her words with nervous laughs and brief pauses while she examined my foreign-looking face yet native sounding "have a nice day!"

I smiled sweetly at her and said, "well, I'm an American, but I've lived here a little over a year."

She let out a sigh and a laugh and complimented me on my language. Granted, I only said a few sentences but apparently I said it good enough to confuse her quite a bit!

The longer I live here and the more I learn about this language, the more I realize just how much there is to learn.

Learning a language is not a simple matter of new vocabulary but rather a new way of thinking, a new way of expressing meaning, gaining a cultural understanding and a context for the language, learning how to play with words and ideas and phrases and so much more. It's far more complicated than grammar, vocabulary, and pronounciation and I still have so far to go.

But it's worth celebrating each and every milestone. From being able to order at a restaurant by yourself to reading the first 5 Harry Potter books (and eventually 6 and 7 as well!) and hopefully one day being able to verbally express the deepest parts of me without stumbling over my words - each step is one more ahead of your last and worth celebrating, so celebrate I will.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

2009-01-22T13:22:00.000-08:00

Tonight I just finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.

Last night I read several chapters on the metro, and when I arrived at my destination with 20 minutes to spare, I sat on a bench on the platform and read some more, quickly wiping my tears to avoid being seen crying.

For the last third of the book, I curled up on my couch, put my iPod on the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack and let myself go, crying freely without inhibitions.

Yes, it's a well written book.

Yes, it's a moving story, full of drama, love and war.

But I didn't cry for any fictional character in this book.

I cried for the women of Afghanistan.

For the mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, who have suffered at the hands of husbands, fathers, warlords, government, often in the name of Islam.

I cried for the men of Afghanistan.

For husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons who watched helplessly as their wives, mothers, sisters and daughters were raped, beaten, stoned, or starved to death.

For the millions of lives lived with no hope.

For the millions who continue to live without hope.

An excerpt from the book includes the decree of the Taliban when they first took over in 1996:

"Our watan is now known as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. These are the laws that we will enforce and you will obey:

All citizens must pray five times a day. If it is prayer time and you are caught doing something other, you will be beaten.

All men will grow their beards. The correct length is at least one clenched fist beneath the chin. If you do not abide by this, you will be beaten.

....

Singing is forbidden.

Dancing is forbidden.

Playing cards, playing chess, gambling, and kite flying are forbidden.

Writing books, watching films, and painting pictures are forbidden.

If you keep parakeets, you will be beaten. Your birds will be killed.

If you steal, your hand will be cut off at the wrist. If you steal again, your foot will be cut off.

If you are not Muslim, do not worship where you can be seen by Muslims. If you do, you will be beaten and imprisoned. If you are caught trying to convert a Muslim to your faith, you will be executed.

Attention women:

You will stay inside your homes at all times....

You will not, under any circumstance, show your face. You will cover with a burqa when outside. If you do not, you will be severely beaten.

Cosmetics are forbidden.

Jewelry is forbidden.

You will not wear charming clothes.

You will not speak unless spoken to.

You will not make eye contact with men.

You will not laugh in public. If you do, you will be beaten.

You will not paint your nails. If you do, you will lose a finger.

Girls are forbidden from attending school. All schools for girls will be closed immediately.

Women are forbidden from working.

If you are found guilty of adultery, you will be stoned to death.

Listen. Listen well. Obey. Allah-u-akbar."

A Thousand Splendid Suns.

Go read it.

Do I Smell Like Alcohol??

2009-01-04T14:06:00.000-08:00

Tonight on the way back from church....

Standing on the platform looking into the windows of the train, I could tell just by looking at them that the two guys sitting facing me were trouble. So when the doors opened, I hoped to get a seat - but not by them. So of course the people getting on the train first would sit in every seat EXCEPT the one next to them.

I sat down hoping to avoid any communication with them, when the one next to me, let's call him Rico, said, "Do I smell like like alcohol??"

I took a moment to sniff.

"A little bit, yes." And by "a little bit" I really meant a lot.

He and his friend laughed.

"Where are you from?" he asked me.

"What do you think?" I said.

"What? I said where are you from?"

"I know. What do you think?"

"Huh?"

"You to tell me. Where do you think I'm from?"

"England."

"No."

"UUUHhhhhhhh....(muttering)....(slurred words)....."

Now go watch this related YouTube video: (I would embed it myself but I don't know how, and I'm watching LOST at the moment so I don't feel like taking the time to figure it out)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4a6I1bJtBg

Whrlwind of an Update

2009-01-01T04:18:00.000-08:00

Well, I know I promised some updates but this past month has been so crazy, and I was not expecting to not have internet access* where my mom lives so I'm afraid I've been keeping all of my avid readers in the dark for quite some time. I apologize.

I did take pictures in London but on a friend's camera, so at the moment I have no way to upload those photos. Sorry :(

But London was a great time of catching up with old friends and I'm so thankful for the opportunity to have gone (thanks to my Mommy for gifting me the trip). I didn't do a lot of touristy things aside from looking at the sights from the outside, so I guess I'll just have to go back sometime so I can actually see the INSIDE of Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London. But it was great. My friends Chris and Angie took me off the beaten path and showed me parts of London I never would have seen as just a tourist. It was great and definitely inspiring to my future coffee shop dream.

Then there was a big fiasco trying to get my paperwork sorted out to go visit my mom. That's a long story that I'll put in another post, perhaps tomorrow or the next day. The important thing is that after too many tears, a few train and metro rides, a cult lady who doesn't want to "lose me", a lot of people saying "it's impossible", a few people trying to help me, and one smart guy who finally figured it all out....

I got to go see my Mommy!!

It was a great trip and a real blessing to be able to see in person the place she's been living and get a glimpse of what her life has been like these past 2 years. We visited a city on the ancient Silk Road, went to a few museums, watched the Harry Potter movies, visited her friends, celebrated Christmas...it was wonderful. I also took pictures with her camera but until she emails them to me I can't show you any. :( I really need to get a new camera soon!! They're just so stinkin' expensive!

The trip back turned out to be quite exhausting and resulted in just a few more tears and an extra 24 hours.

After waking up at 2:30 am Saturday morning, we went to the airport and waited...and waited...and waited. Only to find out after 2 hours of waiting that my flight was delayed until later that afternoon due to weather.

That meant that I would miss my connecting flight and have to spend the night in Istanbul. So we went home, took a little nap, finished the last Harry Potter movie and then returned to the airport.

The airport itself was a bit frustrating since nothing was clearly marked, the passport control guy had a problem with my passport and had me waiting for 15 minutes while he "checked on some things", the plane was delayed even further...and then I finally made it to Istanbul where I was supposed to be given a hotel room. The only problem was the airline official didn't tell me I would have to buy a visa and gave me very unclear instructions as to how to find the person who would give me a hotel room. That was the part where I cried. I had been up since 2:30 that morning, it was now 9pm and I was exhausted, confused, frustrated...put all those things together and it's a recipe for tears.

Eventually I made it to the hotel where the fed me, gave me a room, and the next morning I returned to the airport and made it safely home with just enough time to jump in the shower and head to church for our 6:30pm service.

Since then I've been running errands, going to the dentist, visiting with friends, unpacking, cleaning, trying to catch up on sleep, looking for new blue jeans since mine fell apart, running to prepare for the New Year's Eve 10K, running in the 10K, sleeping some more...it's been a busy 4 days!!

Alas, that is all for now.

*Sort of. To get internet we have to pack up the laptop and walk up the hill to a cold, empty house, plug in the compy, sit there in the freezing cold while you check your email...so we only did it twice. Only that which was necessary to let important people know my flight schedule.

AWOL

2008-12-11T00:10:00.000-08:00

Yeah yeah, I know I've been AWOL lately. It's partly because I spent 2 weekends out of town, and partly because I've just been busy during the weeks. And today I'm going out of town again. I'm going to London! Yay! I'm super excited to see my friends that I haven't seen in over a year, as well as some other friends that I've seen twice, but let's be honest, twice in one year is not enough.

Sadly, I still don't have a camera so unless somebody around here has the generosity to let me borrow theirs for the weekend, I won't be taking pictures. :(

When I get back I hope to have some fun stuff to update on, and a tummy full of delicious New Orlean's Gumbo!!

Enjoy your Christmas holidays, wherever you may be!

Thoughts on Winter

2008-12-01T14:04:00.000-08:00

The past 2 weeks we've had temperatures of 4 to 8 degrees centigrade. That's upper 30's and lower 40's in F.

I'm from Texas. I'm not used to that.

While I'm pretty sure that winter here last year was the same, I don't remember it being nearly as painful as it's been this year.

Last weekend I went on a retreat in Valencia and the place I was staying didn't have heat. The main meeting room had a small heater and there were some stationary gas flame heaters in the cafeteria, but I still spent the entire weekend in tights, jeans, tank top, tshirt, sweater, coat, and scarf. I had to wear my coat and scarf indoors all weekend. And let's not even talk about going to bed. That was so painfully cold the very thought still hurts me.

But I suppose it was a good experience for me. I forget sometimes how blessed I am. I forget that there are millions of people who don't have heat on a daily basis. I forget that there are millions of people who don't have tights and jeans and layers of clothes and coats and scarves. They have no choice but to suffer through the winter.

And I take it for granted that not only do I have a coat, but I look in my closet and can choose WHICH coat I want to wear that day. The long one or the short one? Is it particularly cold? Then I shall wear the fleece lined ski coat. Am I going for a run? Then I shall wear the water resistant pull over.

I am blessed.

Along the same lines, I have a question. What cold weather tips do you have for this Texas girl? What kinds of clothing/layers/etc have helped you out? Even the obvious. For example, I never thought "put on some socks" until somebody said it to me one time. It may sound stupid but I'm so accustomed to going barefoot indoors that when it's cold, putting on socks doesn't even cross my mind. But keeping your feet warm makes a huge difference.

Tell me. Give me advice. Not only do I need it for now, but I'm also going to London (colder) in just over a week and then to visit my mom (even colder) in two weeks.

And since running in this cold weather has become far more painful than I thought possible, I also went shopping.

I always used to make fun of the people who wore running tights. I thought they were either too serious or just trying to show off their hot (or sometimes not so hot) bod.

And then it got cold. And I want to run.

Sweat pants don't do the job. They absorb your sweat, get wet, and then you end up even colder.

Windbreaker type pants don't do the job. They let air in at the ankles, and they make that "swish swish" sound that gets on my nerves because when you're running at a park where lots of people run, you like to know when somebody is lapping you so you can move over and get out of their way. When your pants say "swish swish" you can't hear the "swish swish" of other people so you're always thinking somebody is right behind you when really it's just you.

The people wearing running tights always look so happy and warm.

So I tried some on.

I liked them. A lot.

So I'm now "one of those."

One of those serious runners.

One of those people I used to judge.

One of those people showing off their hot (or not) bod.

"Judge not, lest you too be judged."

Revenge of the Nerds

2008-11-20T05:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to meet a friend for coffee. When I arrived at the metro stop, I was surprised to find it full of "young people."

I looked at my watch. It was 11:15am. Kids didn't leave school for lunch break until 1pm. And besides, most of these people looked too old to be in high school. College maybe, but certainly not high school.

I walked up the stairs to the street level only to find another 80+ gathered on the sidewalk.

They all looked quite normal to me. Most wore blue jeans, tshirts, hoodies or jackets, and tennis shoes. The vast majority were guys, with a few girls thrown in for good measure. There seemed to be an over abundance of glasses, but I didn't think much of it. They were chatting in gender segregated groups, laughing and looking at their watches with a sense of anticipation.

In hindsight, I would have to say that in the eyes of a local this group of "normal" looking guys was actually quite nerdy.

I didn't see a single mullet, mohawk, or even fauxhawk.

Nor was there a facial piercing in sight.

Nobody was wearing skinny jeans with Converse All-Stars, nor expensive designer clothes.

Yeah...I guess they were pretty dorky.

I decided to ask what was going on so I turned to a group of three guys standing nearby.

(Translated version):

Me: "Excuse me, why are all these people here?"

Him: "We're having a protest."

Me: "Oh...about what?"

Him: "Computer science."

I laughed and looked around at the crowd. I was starting to understand.

Him: "Why are you laughing?" (said with a smile and a laugh that makes it obvious he knows exactly why I'm laughing).

Me: "It's just....uh...why are you protesting? Are you mad about something?"

Him: "Yeah, at the government."

Me: "Why?"

Him: "Because they aren't regulating the field."

Me: "Oh. Where is the protest at?"

Him: (chuckles) "At some government office, but nobody knows where it is!"

I kind of wish I could have waited around and followed them to the protest. They didn't look like a very intimidating bunch, nor did anybody have picket signs or angry looks on their faces. I think it would have been quite a show, and who knows? I bet I could have made some new friends among the bunch.

She Forgot to Take Her Pills Today...

2008-11-18T13:51:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I forget that I'm in public.

Does that ever happen to you?

It happens to me every day.

I'm walking down the street and I'm thinking about something. I'm reliving a conversation that I had, whether recent or ancient history, perhaps thinking about what could have been said. I'm recreating an experience I once had and feeling all of the same sensations I felt back then. Or I'm preparing for an upcoming conversation and reviewing what I should and shouldn't say or do. Or, and this is what really gets me in trouble, I'm imagining a completely made up situation and all the things that could be said if that highly improbable situation were to ever come about.

I get so involved in my imagination that the next thing I know I'm walking down the street making faces and gestures in accordance with the action taking place in my mind.

If it's funny, I laugh or giggle silently.

If it's painfully awkward, I inhale through my teeth making a subtle hissing sound, or else exhale with puffed cheeks.

If it upsets me, I furrow my brow, or sometimes sigh heavily and roll my eyes.

If it's serious, I nod my head, purse my lips, or scratch my chin.

If I like the boy in my imaginary conversation (and let's face it, I usually do, or why else would I be having an imaginary conversation with him?), I blush, smile shyly and bite my lip.

The only problem is:

It's in my mind.

Nobody else can see or hear my mental dramatization so all they see is a girl walking down the street making all sorts of faces completely unaware that she's making those faces at the people in the street.

They probably think to themselves, "sure, she may look relatively normal now, but in 10 years, she'll be the bag lady with 6 cats who talks to light posts."

But they're wrong.

I hate cats.

An Outstanding Experience

2008-11-13T05:29:00.001-08:00

This morning I had an appointment at the US Embassy to get some pages added to my passport, seeing as how I only had two blank pages left and I'll be traveling for Christmas.

The only problem was that I had the page with my appointment information marked on my laptop, which I currently can't use since my power cord is broken.

And in typical Bruner fashion, I didn't write down the time or date of my appointment.

So I thought, "well...I think that 3 weeks ago when I made the appointment it was for Nov 13 or something like that. I guess I'll just show up and see what happens."

Now keep in mind that usually the way things work in this country when you have an appointment at any official gov't office is quite...inefficient, to say the least.

Usually even if your appointment is at 10:30am and you get there at 10:15 you still have to wait inline until 10:45 or 11.

Usually you have to make an appointment to go wait in line so that they can give you another appointment on another day at an inconvenient hour in an inconvenient location to give somebody your papers and then wait for a letter to come in the mail telling you that you had an appointment yesterday to pick up the papers and take them to another office, but since you missed that appointment you have to go make another appointment to wait in line so that they can give you another appointment to go pick up the papers and....do you see where I'm going with this??

And I'm not even exaggerating. No lie.

So since I didn't even know when my appointment was supposed to be, I was expecting to show up, wait in a long line, and then have them tell me I need to go home and make another appointment through the website. OR at best, wait in a long line for a few hours until they could attend to me, and then leave them my passport and pick it up in 2 weeks.

What actually happened was far beyond AWESOME.

I walked up to the gate and a security guard asked me what I needed. I told her how I *thought* I had an appointment but wasn't sure. She let me in.

Somebody gave me a ticket with a number on it, and I sat down to watch Sarah Palin on CNN until my number appeared on the screen.

After only TWO minutes my number popped up on the screen.

Just two minutes? Cool!

I walked up to the desk and was greeted by, "Hi, how are you?"

I just about FLIPPED.

Somebody asked me how I am??? And she seemed genuinely interested??? A complete stranger actually cares??

I told her about my phantom appointment.

She looked at a list and saw that my appointment was for 9:15am. It was then 11am.

She said, "okay, just fill out this form and hand it to me when you're done."

When I finished she said, "Do you mind sticking around for half an hour and we can do it for you right now?"

Do I mind if you do it now??? Of course not!! Only half an hour??? AWESOME!!

So I sat down and read a chapter of Harry Potter until they called my number again.

This time a kind gentleman handed my passport back to me, and he said very sincerely, "We're sorry it took so long."

I assured him that it was completely okay. Seriously. I only read one chapter. It wasn't that long.

Not once in the past year have I experienced such a combined effort of efficiency and sincere courtesy, with the exception of my friends at the local Starbucks (however it probably helps that I'm a repeat customer and I bake for them).

Not only were they there to do their jobs and do them well, but they did them with smiles on their faces and the well-being of the "customer" in mind.

It was incredible. It's almost tempting to lose my passport just so I can go back there.

Untimely death and natural disasters aside, nothing can ruin my day after a morning like that.

:)

Goodbye, Canon Powershot Digital Elph

2008-11-11T12:50:00.000-08:00

Tonight I dropped my camera on the kitchen floor. It wasn't a long drop (I was already crouched down to take a picture of the fresh out the oven chicken and veggies my roommate and I cooked) but it was a mighty drop.

My poor, sad little camera no longer functions. I'm going to try to find her some help, but at the moment, it's not looking good.

My camera accompanied me nearly everywhere I went for the past three years. I've taken thousands of pictures with her. I've shared so many special memories with her. She's helped me remember good times with my friends, family...and I was hoping with my mom on my upcoming trip to see her at Christmas.

Alas, she is no more.

I think I would have cried if it weren't for the fact that my power cord to my laptop is broken and I'll most likely have to buy a new one this week, so the timing of it was just too comical to let tears fall.

Yet another reminder that they're just things. Stuff. Meaningless.

Yeah, it stinks. But after breaking my camera, I enjoyed a delicious dinner of roasted chicken and vegetables, while I know that just a few blocks away three little girls I met last Friday are having nothing bread with butter and nutella for dinner.

And I'm quite sure that in the same apartment building as those three girls, other families are going without food.

How can I complain over luxuries such as laptops and cameras breaking knowing that down the street there are families with no meat, and maybe even no food, on the table? When last night I took a friend to sign up for my church's food distribution, because their money ran out, they have no jobs, and she doesn't know where next week's meals are going to come from? When I know that two blocks to the East there are homeless men sleeping on park benches, one block to the North sleeping on the sidewalk by the train station, and two blocks to the South in another park?

All while I eat my roast chicken and vegetables.

McCain, Obama, and Some Italians

2008-11-05T15:32:00.000-08:00

Tonight I was going home on the metro after Bible study when a rowdy group of Italian guys got on. As there was a seat open next to me, one of them sat down, but in the process he ended up sitting on me.

He said, "perdón."

I very much wanted to respond with, "that's okay, I'm used to guys trying to sit in my lap" but I don't know how to say "lap" so instead I just nodded okay.**

He and his friends were all settled in their seats for a few stops when a few American girls got on, speaking very loudly in typical American fashion saying lots of things like "OMG" and "no way!"

Immediately one of the Italians looked down at his friend (sitting about 6 seats down) with a devilish grin of evil delight and they started yelling "McCain! Obama! McCain! Obama! Oh my gosh!" Apparently they had been planning that for a while.

I couldn't help but laugh.

I was also slightly giddy.

Apparently they didn't realize that I'm an American!

My super-white face usually calls me out as a foreigner, and when I open my mouth most suspicions are confirmed, however in recent months people have not been guessing "American" as my nationality (a good sign, I think..) and twice a local has told me they thought I was a local as well.

But Saturday somebody asked me where I was from and when I said "guess!" he responded with, "it has to be somewhere cold."

I said "why?"

And he said "because you're so white."

Well poo.

So when the Italian guys seemed oblivious to my American nationality, I took that as a compliment.

I got off at the same stop as the Italians and the Americans and listened as the Italians in broken English tried to taunt the American girl, with a little more bounce in my step for having slipped past their radar.

:)

**Was that bad of me?

You Say Goodbye, and I Say Hello

2008-11-03T07:38:00.001-08:00

I know I've posted about this before, but it seems to be a continual theme in my life lately.

You see, greeting people here can sometimes get very confusing. People greet each other with two kisses here - one on each cheek, starting with the right cheek. You kiss to say hello, and then you kiss to say goodbye. Occasionally with a close friend you might hug. But you'll still probably kiss.

North African women greet with three kisses: one on the right cheek and two on the left.

Americans greet friends with hugs, and strangers with handshakes.

French and Italians kiss too, but I haven't figured out the "rules" to their greetings yet.

Then you mix it all together and nobody really knows what to do.

Some Americans take on the local tradition and greet with two kisses. Others prefer hugs. Others still, persist in handshakes. North Africans, French, Italians, and all the rest of the world also pick and choose what kind of greeting to give, but it's easier with the "kissers" because at least you can expect a kiss, however you may not know how many (or on what cheek!).

So lately, any time I meet a new person, I go for the kisses. If they happen to be an American who's been here for a while, it's not so weird because they're used to it.

But if it's an American with whom you're actually friends, then they'll probably want to hug. But hugging and kissing both involve leaning towards the other, and sometimes I forget what I'm supposed to be doing.

Some people hug AND kiss. Do you kiss on the side you're hugging at the beginning or the end of the hug? How long does the hug last before you kiss the other cheek? Do you hug again when you kiss the other cheek?

Then there are the Americans who are fresh off the boat. They're usually aware that you're supposed to kiss people, but it's still slightly uncomfortable for them, so they're hesitant to kiss another American. They'll usually try to follow your lead, but when you're already as awkward as I am, it can be quite messy. Girls seem to adjust faster than guys, who stay stuck somewhere between side hugs, kisses, and handshakes for a bit longer.

Then there's the "American man living in Spain that I'm sort of friends with but only see once a month" situation. That's REALLY confusing. You don't hug him the same way you would hug a close friend, if you were to hug him. But you're not sure if you should kiss him because it's always kind of weird kissing American men, since we don't typically kiss the opposite gender unless they're a significant other or a family member. But he's too good of a friend to shake hands with.

And what do you do with an American when your hands are full? You can't adequately hug with shopping bags or your guitar or baked goods in your hands, yet you're not sure how this person has adjusted to the kissing culture. Is it a friend or a stranger? A close friend or a new friend? The first time you're meeting or the 32nd? All of this affects what you should do. But what actually happens is a different story.

What's a girl to do?

To make it worse, get a whole bunch of Americans together for lunch one day, and when it's time to go everybody goes around hugging, kissing, shaking hands, but each with their own style, a mix of American and foreign customs. What a mess!

A few weeks ago I kissed a guy when I shouldn't have. We had chatted a few times over the course of the evening and then he leaned in to say something in my ear (it was really loud) and I, out of habit, kissed his cheek.

He jumped back and said, "thanks!"

Trust me bud, it wasn't on purpose.

But I'm quite sure I blushed and he probably thought I was way into him.*

Then the other day the same thing happened - it's loud, a guy leans in to tell me something and I, thinking he was saying goodbye, kissed him. This guy, however, completely ignored it and continued on with what he was saying. Apparently he wasn't as flattered as the first guy.

I'm not sure if the situations would have been better or worse had it been a girl leaning in to tell me something.

All that to say, I never know what to do. Hug? Kiss? Handshake?

Sometimes it's just easier to say "I'm going to give you a hug," but then that can be just as awkward in it's own way.

When I went back to the States for Lissy's wedding I was relieved in part to know that all I had to do was hug everybody, but at the same time frustrated because I kept wanting to kiss people, but knowing that it would freak them all out (especially my guy friends) I had to hold back what had become natural to me.

When I first arrived here a year ago I thought that all of this confusion would clear up with time, but it appears I was wrong. Each day, each new acquaintance, each greeting seems more confusing than the last.

I think I've just resigned myself to the fact that I'll never know just how to greet each person, so all I can do is laugh at myself and move on to the next victim.

*Tim once told me that if I hadn't told him flat out I wasn't into him, he would have thought I was. Despite my lack of flirting skills, my friendly nature apparently comes across as flirting, leading to much confusion on the part of many.

Nacho!!!

2008-10-27T05:42:00.000-07:00

My little fishy has a name!!

I decided to call him Inigo Montoya, because he's quite the little fighter.

"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

But since Inigo Montoya is a long name, and "Nacho" is the nickname for "Inigo" (go figure) I usually end up calling him Nacho.

And Nacho Libre is awesome.

"Chanco! I need to borrow some sweats!"

I've got him trained now where I shake the food in front of his bowl and he goes into a frenzy until I drop the food in to eat.

That little booger can eat a lot! The guy at the fish store told me they should eat 3-6 little pellets a day, and I would just need to experiment to see how much Nacho eats.

I'll put in 5 pellets and he eats them all up and for as long as I'm standing there he's swimming up and down, right and left, staring at me begging for more.

So I put in one more.

He devours it, and then does his little dance again.

But I don't want to overfeed him so I've made 6 the limit.

Also, if I put in more, then he just plays with it and it ends up disintegrating and making the water dirty.

Then I have to change the water.

Changing the water is a hassle, so I don't like to do it more than once a week.

Thus, I refuse to give him more food.

And now I shall go and make food for myself.

Quesadillas...yum.

Run for Breast Cancer

2008-10-20T13:05:00.001-07:00

This Sunday a friend and I ran in a run/walk/skate/whatever for breast cancer. We got these awesome pink shirts and pink balloons, however we ended up tying our balloons to her daughter's stroller and leaving them with her husband, because we were going to run and the balloons would just get in the way.

Before it started, we had to pee, so we looked around for the port-a-potty...

None in sight.

So we asked a volunteer. "Where's the bathroom?"

"There is none" was the reply.

No bathroom!?!? So we ran to a bar and waited in a ridiculous line (because every other one of the thousand ladies there had to pee too) and barely made it back in time for it to start.

What were they thinking holding an event for a thousand WOMEN and not having a few port-a-potties? Everybody knows that women have to pee a lot, and it's not like we can just go behind a tree like men can (and men here DO all the time. Ick).

So when the run/walk/skate/whatever did start, they shot off all this confetti and a lot of people let go of their balloons. It was quite an impressive sight, all that pink. I must say, I do like pink:

Since there were so many people and we almost didn't make it back in time, we couldn't get at the front (where the runners were supposed to be) so we got trapped in the crowd. We ended up getting on the sidewalk and cutting around the crowd as soon as we could, or else we would have been stuck walking the whole time. Here we are pretending to run amidst the masses:

Before signing up, I thought it was going to be a 10k.

I was wrong.

According to the website, the race was "approximately 4k." That's 2.5 miles. That's also less than what I run on an average day.

AND it only took me about 17 minutes to do the race, so apparently their approximation was either a bit off or I'm a Superstar Speedster because it should have taken me 23-25 minutes to run 4k, because I run SSLLLOOOOWWWW.

When I turned the last corner and saw the finish line I thought, "what? I'm not even tired yet."

Here I am getting ready to cross the finish line:

There's nobody else around me because most people walked, and my friend is a faster runner than I am so she finished a minute or two before me. My friend and I were concerned we'd be the only people running, but thankfully there were a good handful of other runners.

Even though the "race" wasn't much of a challenge, I was still quite thirsty afterwards. So what did they have for us to drink? A nice, cool bottle of water? A refreshing Fruit Punch or Blue Ice Powerade?

What else, but a never ending table of Coca-Cola products!?!?!

Regular Coke, Coke Light (they don't have Diet here. Coke Light uses an artificial sweetener that tastes better, but gives you more cancer), Coke Zero, Caffeine Free Coke, Fanta Lemon, Fanta Orange, Fanta Zero Lemon, Fanta Zero Orange, and Aquarius, a Coca-Cola carbonated free product.

Not a single bottle of water in sight.

And despite the ginormous Powerade inflatable start and finish line, not a single bottle of Powerade in sight.

What??

And then after the race half the crowd lit up cigarettes. The other half had already smoked theirs before it started.

Does anybody else see the irony in the murky billows of second hand smoke wafting into our lungs after the race against CANCER? Or the Diabetes-In-A-Can drinks? Or the CANCER causing artificial sweeteners in the non-Diabetes-In-A-Can drinks? Or the releasing of a thousand non-biodegradable balloons into the air, just waiting to land somewhere and poison the earth and give us all CANCER??

Oh the irony.

In other news, tonight I was eating a scoop of ice cream in the city center while people watching when a short, chubby old man walked up to me, stared at my ice cream and started to lick his lips and lean forward. I wasn't quite sure how to respond (was he playing with me or going to steal my ice cream? I've learned not to trust little old men, no matter how cute and innocent they may look), but then he broke out into a chuckle, patted my arm, and went on his way, leaving me to enjoy my scoop of Ben&Jerry's Cheesecake Brownie.

It's the little things that make life fun. :)

YOU Vote!!

2008-10-14T03:39:00.000-07:00

I have a new roommate!

And it's a BOY!!

Now, before you get the wrong idea, let's see a picture of this new roommate...

One of my friends here has a new obsession with fish, and while she has gone so far as to install a real fish tank, I only allowed her to convince me to invest in this handsome beta.

But he needs a name!!

That's where YOU come in! YOU get to vote (by way of leaving a comment) and tell me what you think I should name him. Keep in mind, it is a boy. So no names like Susan or LuAnn. And keep in mind that I am SO beyond Disney/Pixar names, so if anybody suggests Nemo or Marlin or Flounder or Sebastian I won't even consider it. However if you should happen to show the picture to your 4 year old son or daughter and HE/SHE suggests Nemo, I won't hold it against him/her.

Be creative. Be original. You can even be ethnic (keep in mind I am living in a foreign country). If no suitable name is submitted in the next week, I'll name him after my grumpy neighbor, because so far this fish seems pretty ornery. Just check out this face he made at me:

I'm Still The Same

2008-09-30T03:08:00.000-07:00

At least once a week (particularly last week) I am reminded that as much as I may have changed as a person, grown in the Lord, learned who I am, "blossomed into a woman" as my mother might say, I am in fact, still very much the same in many ways.

One of those lovely personality traits to which I am referring is represented in this piece that I wrote a few years ago for a poetry slam at Revolution Café in Bryan, Texas.

:sigh:

Enjoy:

My life can be defined by one simple word: Awkward.
My life is awkward.
It’s not that I’m socially inept
Or incapable of interaction with the opposite sex
But simply that I find myself with my foot in my mouth
My words all tangled up
Frantically fighting for some sense of order.
My inner monologue has gone on permanent vacation
Leaving me behind,
With random thoughts racing through my mind
And I can’t seem to get the right ones out
So then you all wonder “What in the world is she talking about?”

My self-editor, the filter from my brain to my mouth
Seems to be having technical difficulties
And now everything has gone south
Blundering, bumbling, uncouth and uncoordinated
Spewing word vomit on the nearest available victim
As I tell them my life story
And about that awkward last day of school in seventh grade
And everything I did earlier that day
Until suddenly I realize that they didn’t want to know
And why am I rambling? Why don’t I just go?
And get in my car and wonder why I said what I said
And then I go home and toss and turn in my bed
Thinking about what a fool of myself I’ve made
And now he’ll never ask me on a date
And why can’t I just be smooth like that girl over there
And to make myself feel better I put on my superman underwear
But you didn’t want know that
That was too much information
And thus I find myself in another awkward situation.

American Stereotypes

2008-09-18T06:14:00.000-07:00

Living in Europe almost a year now has made me realize that the world has some strong stereotypes of Americans. Some are only slightly true, some are absolutely ridiculous, and a very few are "spot on".

Currently I'm reading a book called "Infidel", the autobiography of a Somalian woman who escaped a forced marriage by fleeing to The Netherlands and later left Islam (hence the title "Infidel.") I might comment on it in another post, but at the moment I'd like to share a quote that made me laugh out loud:

In October 2002, I flew to California. It was the first time I had ever been in the United States, and I realized almost immediately that my pre-conceptions of America were completely ludicrous. I was expecting rednecks and fat people, with lots of guns, very aggressive police, and overt racism - a caricature of a caricature. In reality, of course, I saw people living perfectly well-ordered lives, jogging, and drinking coffee.

Yep. That's pretty much what people seem to think about us. That and lots of really stupid pregnant teenagers. I'm glad she changed her views.

Unity of the Word

2008-09-15T02:40:00.000-07:00

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it."
John 1:1-5

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."
Colossians 1:15-17

"In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven."
Hebrews 1:1-3

Crisis Averted

2008-09-14T14:53:00.000-07:00

This is a walnut.

According to wikepedia, it grows on the deciduous walnut tree, genus juglans, and can be eaten in a variety of ways.

Except by me.

I am allergic to them.

Not in the, "if I eat you I shall immediately die" sort of way, but rather in the "if I eat you I will become like Hitch" sort of way.

Today I ate at one of my favorite restaurants in town - a vegetarian buffet. You pay by weight, so you just load your plate with as little or as much as you want and enjoy a delicious, healthy meal before you recycle your plates and plasticware in their hippy-friendly recycling bins.

But vegetarians often eat a lot of nuts (Because they're nuts themselves? That's SO something my dad would have said) so I always check the ingredients before scooping onto my plate.

Today they had a delicious looking pasta salad. Thanks to Jason's Deli, I have a relatively recent obsession with pasta salads, so this was an ideal choice.

I checked the listed ingredients: no nuts.

So I served myself a heaping scoop and sat on a bench outside to savor my meal in the sunlight.

Later as I was finishing up my last bite of one of the more delicious pasta salads I've ever enjoyed, I thought to myself, "something doesn't feel right."

My body was telling me something, but I didn't understand until I looked down at my plate and saw two lone, teeny tiny pieces of walnut* where my pasta had been.

Oh dear. This could be bad.

Enough time had passed since I took my first bite of the salad that I figured if I was going to go into anaphylactic shock it would have happened already, so I decided to take a moment to speak to the only restaurant employee I saw.

She was involved in a very important phone call, and as I had nothing in my hands to buy didn't seem too concerned with me standing in front of her.

After I stared at her smiling for a moment she got the idea and told her bff to hold on.

I told her, "the pasta salad has nuts in it, but it's not listed on the ingredients [I double checked before speaking to her] and I'm allergic to nuts [this is where a look a horror started to spread across her face] and ate it without knowing. I'm going to get some medicine right now, but I just wanted to let you know that you need to list nuts on the ingredients."

She looked horrified.

She apologized profusely and tried to make excuses.

I assured her I wasn't going to die but that yes, I needed to take some medicine right away, and again, please list nuts on the ingredients because nuts is a very common allergy.

And then I left, in a hurry to find some medicine as my ears continued to clog, my throat itching more and more, and my chest steadily tightening, partly due to the nuts and partly due to my growing anxiety. I really and truly knew I wasn't going to die or even have very serious problems, so long as I could get my hands on some medicine quickly, but my physical discomfort was steadily growing.

However on a Sunday afternoon during siesta time, the pharmacy around the corner was closed and a 15-20 minute walk home loomed before me.

Thankfully pharmacies in this country are like Starbucks in College Station** - there are far more than you could ever need or want - and I soon came across a 24 hour pharmacy.

I walked in and told them what happened and they knew exactly what to give me. I took it right away, still standing at the check-out, and after just 1 or 2 minutes I could feel a significant difference. It was incredible. I don't know what that stuff is, but I'll be keeping some in my purse from now on.

Crisis averted.

Now I'm not familiar with the laws in this country, but I can assure that in the United States there would have been fine print somewhere listing nuts among the ingredients with little asteriks like these: ***

And then after I ate the salad with the nuts they either would have pointed it out to me, or if they were non-compliant with the Food and Drug Administration laws I could have sued for 5 million dollars and treated myself with lasik eye surgery and one of these:

That's a Jaguar XJ.

The dude from Top Gear drove all the way across England and Scotland and back in one and never got bored or uncomfortable.

I've secretly wanted a Jaguar ever since I first became aware of what one even was on LBJ freeway in Dallas roughly 8 years ago.

I have diverted and thus it is time to end this post, after a few brief footnotes:

*the walnut was chopped so finely that not only was it difficult to see among the pasta and pesto sauce, but since I have not eaten one since my childhood I didn't know how to recognize the flavor

**I love Starbucks but anybody who has been through College Station surely must have noticed that we have an over abundance of this over-priced yet oh-so-addictive coffee chain

***the United States is obsessed with lawsuits, which is why hot coffee cups have written warnings that the coffee inside is hot

The Awesomeness That Is....

2008-09-10T11:51:00.000-07:00

So I told you to check back to see something awesome, and now the time has come to find out what that awesomeness is.

As you can see, this is a picture of me:

Of course we all know that I am completely awesome.

That is obvious.

But the awesomeness that is "Me" is just about to get even Awesomer.

Did you notice the background in the picture of "Normal Awesome Me"?

Do you know where I am in that photo?

Do you know what's coming next?

Meet "Super Awesome" Me.

Technically, that would be "Super Awesome Me in a Little Bit of Pain".

Can you see the difference?

Do you see the shiny little spot on my slightly throbbing red nose?

Yes my friends, I pierced my nose.

I'd secretly been wanting to do it ever since sophomore year at A&M when I went with Denise to get her nose pierced but I knew my mom would object. Well, kill me, to be exact. So I pierced my upper ear instead. It was kind of a whim during dead-days - a way of procrastinating studying for final exams.

Then I didn't want to do it because it had become so trendy, and while I don't like to be out of the loop, I also don't believe in doing something just to be part of the trend. I got over wanting to be part of the "cool" crowd my freshman year of high school.

So whereas some do it as their way to "stick it to the man," my NOT doing it was my own rebellion against society - the society of "cool kids."

But I still secretly wanted it.

I like shiny things.

And I think I have a cute enough nose for it.

And I'd rather do something stupid while I still have the excuse of being young and dumb than wait until I'm an adult and should know better.

But I don't think this was stupid.

So I mentioned it to my mom a year or so ago and she was clearly against it.

Then I brought it up a few months ago. Again, not so much for it.

Seeing as how my 24th birthday was approaching, despite my "adult" status I still didn't want to do it without her blessing.

But a friend wanted to give it to me as my birthday present.

Thus, I had a dilemma.

So I spoke to my dear, beautiful, graceful, charming, lovely, mother again.

She told me to do it.

Well, actually she said, "do what you have to do."

It was over chat so I couldn't hear her tone of voice but I imagine that it was light and joking and she was smiling and shaking her head in that "oh you young whipersnapper" kind of way.

At least that's how I like to picture it.

Thanks Mom. :)

I'll be sure to post a prettier, shinier picture for your awesome viewing pleasure in the coming days.

Now if I could just figure out how to blow my nose...

Thank God

2008-09-07T13:44:00.001-07:00

Tonight I had a quite frightening moment, and I'm still thanking God that I'm okay.

I was coming up the stairs out of the metro when I saw a man and woman walking towards me - or rather, the woman dragging the stumbling man towards me. The man was so drunk (and/or under the influence of something else) that he could barely walk, and he seemed to be resisting the woman, who also might have been under the influence herself. They nearly knocked me over as I was coming up the last 2 steps, but I saw them just in time and quickly moved out of the way.

I thought, "They're going to fall."

Sure enough, two seconds later, they went tumbling down the stairs.

Not just an "oops I tripped" kind of fall.

It was the kind of fall where they went bouncing down 15 cement steps, rolling over each other, banging their heads, shoulders, and backs on each step along the way.

Immediately when they reached the bottom a crowd of people jumped around them to see if they were okay, while one girl ran to get the police standing just across the way.

I just stood there and stared.

After standing back for a bit taking it all in, watching the crowd gather and the police make calls on their walkie talkies, I sat on a bench and said a prayer for them.

Then I realized: that could of been me, too.

They nearly pushed me anyway.

Only because I was looking up at the right moment instead of looking at the steps did I see them and move out of the way. They certainly hadn't been paying any attention to me.

What if I hadn't been looking up? What if I had exited the metro just 2 seconds later? What if something had distracted me and I didn't see them coming straight at me?

I praise the Lord that I'm okay - that they didn't run into me and take me with them. That I didn't walk out 2 seconds later.

As it turns out, it seems the man was relatively okay. His head was bleeding quite a bit but he was able to stand...sort of. So at least he didn't break his neck. But I never saw what happened to the woman. She never came back up the stairs, and when the ambulance came the police just waved it on by, so my only guess is that she too, was able to walk/stagger away from the fall. I really am amazed that neither of them broke their spine.

As Mad-Eye Moody would say, "Constant vigilance!!"

But no matter how much you pay attention, things happen. Surprises come. There are things that are out of our control. But today, I'm praising God for another day of my life; for another day without injury; for the saved lives of the drunk couple.

Get Ready...

2008-09-05T09:54:00.001-07:00

Tuesday is my birthday.

Tuesday is also a holiday here.

I am choosing to believe that the holiday IS my birthday, and the whole city is celebrating with me.

Isn't that nice of them? Everybody's taking off from work in honor of my 24 years of life. They're so sweet.

In celebration of my birthday, I'm going to....

Well, I'll leave you in suspense. But check back Tuesday or Wednesday to find something awesome.

Tee hee.

Tee hee.

Chocolate

2008-09-04T07:46:00.000-07:00

I would just like to comment that I love chocolate.

That is all.

God Bless You

2008-08-31T15:28:00.000-07:00

Tonight, church was incredible. I just can't get over how incredible it was. It's been a struggle here to find a non-English church where not only can I worship with music that won't put me to sleep, but also teaches the Word. I don't want to hear a pastor's opinions - I don't want to hear a bunch of jokes or allegorical stories - I don't need ten illustrations to understand one verse - and I certainly don't want a motivational speech ("you can start that business! And God will help you!"). I just want the Word. Teach me the Word. No more, no less. Just the Word.

I'm starving for the Word; for the Bread of Life that fills me up. I can't live without it.

So tonight when he spoke the Word, explained the Word, taught the Word...it was sweeter than honey.

The main text was Numbers 6:22-27, which says:

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to Aaron and to his sons saying, 'Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:

The Lord bless you, and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine on you,
and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up His countenance on you,
and give you peace.'

So they shall invoke my name on the sons of Israel, and then I will bless them."

I recommend that you go read it in several different versions, because there are several words there that we take the meaning for granted unless we see it stated differently.

He talked about how when we bless someone, we're invoking the Lord to bless them. We ourselves don't have a blessing to give, but the Lord does. He went through these verses, phrase by phrase, referencing other scripture and explaining the meaning and significance of each phrase. He talked about how when we say "God bless you" to somebody, it actually means something. We are calling upon the Lord to bless that person, and He will. He talked about how God told Abraham, "I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you" and "I will make you a blessing to nations of the earth." He talked specifically about parents speaking blessings over their children and passing that blessing down from generation to generation, like what has happened in his family. He talked about the meaning of a blessing, and that it's not material (even though we often consider material objects a "blessing"). I could go on and on about all that he said and all of scripture that he spoke from, but there's no way I can relate it all on here.

As a result, I felt very convicted that saying "God bless you" is something to take seriously. That I should be saying it more often, and with meaning and conviction, rather than casually in passing. When I have children I want to pray this blessing over them when they go to bed at night. I am an ambassador for the Lord and he has charged me with a great responsibility. I do not want to take it lightly.

LB

Celebrity Count

2008-08-28T09:09:00.000-07:00

Last night I saw Pau Gasol at a pizza place. As you can see from the picture, he plays for the Lakers. He also played on the Spanish Olympic basketball team, who we all know took home the Silver (because the U.S. beat them for the Gold...tee hee).

So I've decided that I need to start keeping a celebrity count, because I've realized that I now live in a city that's kind of like Hollywood - there are celebrities everywhere. The funny part is that I usually have no idea who they are until somebody points them out to me (with the exception of Pau Gasol and 2 other guys), because they're usually only celebrities here and my status as a foreigner also means that I'm generally clueless to these kinds of things.

So here is my celebrity count so far:
1) The guy that plays "Gaston" in Beauty and the Beast here. Normally I wouldn't count stage actors but I saw this guy on TV a few weeks later, so he's a legitimate celebrity by my book.
2) Paco León - he's in a popular TV show here. I saw him walking down the street one night. I actually knew who he was because I sometimes watch the show, so that was an exciting moment. I felt like I was part of the culture for recognizing him.
3) Alaska - rock star (see previous blog about her)
4) Name Unknown - a guy who's in a lot of Pedro Almodóvar's movies. Somebody pointed him out to me at a bar. Apparently he's quite famous here, but I was 5 feet away from him and had no idea. I'll bet he knows Penelope Cruz.
5) Pau Gasol

There was one time when some friends and I were eating at the same place where I saw Paco León pass by and a friend pointed out some other celebrity, but I had no idea who they were or what movie/TV show my friend was talking about, so I won't count that one.

I think that's more celebrities than I've ever seen the rest of my life.

One time I met Chuck Norris at Double Dave's Pizza in College Station. He was nice, and his wife was super excited to meet me.

That is all.

LB

I'm an...adult??

2008-08-25T06:02:00.000-07:00

Pretty soon I'll be 24. September 9th, that is. 15 days, to be exact.

You know what that means??

I'm an adult.

Yes, I realize that in the United States you're officially an adult at 21. But at 21 I was still in college. At 22 I was still in college. College is great! It's like Utopia for anybody who has a scholarship or a college fund, both of which I had. All you do is go to class, study, drink lots of coffee, hang out with friends, play mafia and watch The Office. It's great!

At 23 I had just graduated college. I didn't really feel like a real adult just yet. Sure, tons of my friends were getting married...a few even had kids. That's them. But me? I'm still single, doin' my own thing. I moved half way across the world, and while that is a very adult-like thing to do, to me it just feels like another adventure. I have no husband or children, so I can just pack some suitcases and go. And I was fresh out of college when I came here, so people still see me as one of those "crazy young people, flying by the seat of her pants."

But now...24....more than a year out of college...I really am an adult now. Supposedly.

Whoa.

Random Ramblings of a Rambler

2008-08-24T05:04:00.000-07:00

I don't have anything remarkable to say today (do I ever?) but rather just a few random thoughts, comments, observations, etc, and since I live alone in a country where I'm still learning the language, I don't always have the chance to share my random ramblings...so here you go, organized by topic:

Olympics:
I didn't get to watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics due to Greg and Panda's rehearsal dinner, but right now I'm watching the closing ceremonies. I can't believe the Olympics are over already!! It was so short! It seems like when I was a kid staying up until 2am to watch gymnastics, the Olympics seemed to go on for months and months, so it caught me by surprise when I found out this morning that today is the closing ceremony. Wow.

The Chinese are really playing up the cute factor right now. Who doesn't think a little Chinese kid is adorable? They're so much cuter than white kids and everybody knows it, so they've put a ton of them in these closing ceremonies. Good job, China.

Sidenote: there's this really attractive Korean guy passing out flowers to people right now. When I was in high school I had crushes on all the Koreans.

Blisters:
On my trip home I bought a new pair of running shoes, seeing as how I had worn my other pair four years, trained for (and ran) two half marathons in them, the cushioning was coming out, the rubber was coming unglued...they had seen better days. So today I ran a little over four miles, a HUGE accomplishment for me because about six months after the second half marathon I hurt my back and couldn't run for a while, and it's been an uphill struggle to re-train my body. Every time I get back in the habit it gets disrupted by something, so even though I was up to 4-5 miles last Spring, Summer kicked that in the butt and lately 2 is the most I've been able to run at a time. So while I was SUPER excited about today's four mile run, it came at a price. I now have four nasty, painful blisters on the arches of my feet. Two on each foot. I'm not sure if I got them because my new shoes aren't quite broken in yet, or because my feet just aren't used to running that distance anymore, or if I just sweat a lot so my socks got wet...but I think I'll do pilates or something tomorrow and Tuesday to try and give them some time to heal. Anybody got any good blister remedies? As fun as it is to pop them (ewww, right? It's still fun) that's not the best way to help them heal. Anybody got any prevention techniques?

Free Starbucks:
I'm a self-proclaimed coffee addict, and I particularly love the coffee shop atmosphere with couches, cool music, art on the walls, so even though back in Texas I usually preferred independent coffee shops (like Sweet Eugene's, Coffee Station, or Rockwell's...yum), here Starbucks is really the only place you can sip your coffee on a couch and read a book for hours, but of course, it's expensive. So I try to limit my Starbuck's intake. When I first got here I limited myself to just holidays and special occasions, but after a few months I threw that out the window and now I treat myself to a latte or mocha sometimes as much as once a week. Or if not a drink, then one of their super yummy sandwiches or pasta salads. Yuuum.

So yesterday I thought to myself, "I haven't had a Starbucks drink in two weeks. I want one." I went to the one closest to my house because I've become friends with the people who work there and love to chat when they're not busy. Luis (who no longer works there) liked to draw hearts on my cup, Victor always remembers that I like soy milk, and Wendy gave me my drink for free one day because I was really tired after a long week. So I knew yesterday would be a good day when I saw that both Victor and Wendy were working, along with another very nice lady whose name I don't know, and Luis had come by to say hi. I hadn't seen them in about a month (due to traveling, visitors, etc) and they were so excited to see me that they gave me my drink for free! Wendy even came and chatted with me for 10-15 minutes while they weren't busy. While free drinks are always exciting, the best part is that them giving me a free drink is a sign of something more - they like me. They consider me a friend. They know my order. They chat with me. They tell me about their lives. They smile when I walk through the door. Even when there's a line waiting out the door, they take the time to ask me how I'm doing and fill me in on what they're up to. To me, it's worth the cost of a 3.50 Euros for the opportunity to be talk with them, to encourage them, to be encouraged by them, to feel welcome in a country where I'm constantly reminded that I don't fit in.

Violin:
I think I mentioned that somebody gave me a violin in April, but due to all of the traveling and craziness of Summer, I've not had a chance to play it much. Yesterday I picked it up and started practicing a bit. Man, have I lost it! So I've got a book of scales and exercises and I'm going to make it a point to practice at least 3 times a week. This week I'm going to the music store to buy a shoulder rest (I've been using a potholder from the kitchen...it surprised me how well it worked!) and a few solos to work on. I want to keep up (or rather, re-gain) my skill so that when I get back to the States in a year or two, I can join an orchestra. I have an awesome violin waiting for me at home and I don't want to lose the skills that I worked for since 5th grade.

Coffee:
I think my favorite flavored coffee is Texas Pecan. Yuuum. My favorite non-flavored coffee is Jamaica Blue Mountain. MEGA yuuuum. My birthday is September 9th. :)

That is all my randomness for now!

LB

An All New Low For Smokers

2008-08-22T03:35:00.000-07:00

While the United States succeeded in making smoking taboo by the time I reached adolescence and is progressing steadily in the fight to save our lungs from second hand smoke, much of Europe is only recently catching on and enforcing new non-smoking laws in restaurants and other public places as their citizens slowly make the connection that maybe that shortness of breath while climbing stairs has something to do with the four packs of cigarettes they smoked this week. Northern Europe seems to have embraced cleaner lungs faster than Southern Europe, where chain smoking is still considered a favorite past-time and rather than post signs in windows that say "Smoking Prohibited", many establishments post signs saying that smoking is permitted, just to clear up any confusion in case the billowing plumes of smoke clouding your vision didn't make it clear.

And today the smokers of this country have reached an all new low. While running at the park, a man in his mid 30s passed me (I'm not a difficult runner to pass) and left me in the wake of his wretched tobacco odor. Most people here smell like cigarette smoke all the time and I rarely notice anymore, so it caught my attention that he reeked so strongly even in the open air of the park. And then I saw it: he was smoking a cigarette while running.

This smoker has hit rock bottom. Not even those blessed endorphins released by running can conquer his addiction to nicotine. Not even his tar-filled lungs straining for oxygen can make him put that cigarette down. Truly his addiction has him subdued.

The saddest part? He was still running faster than me!

LB

Sweet Seventeen?

2008-08-14T09:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and today I've been listening to lots of Country music while procrastinating unpacking and such.

And it leaves me with a question:

Why is it that in nearly every country song, all major life events take place at 17?

Every first love happens at 17. Likewise, every first broken heart happens at 17. Every loss of a loved one happens at 17. Every first truck accident happens at 17. Every first beer happens at 17 (well...I guess that one depends on the song..). The point is, it all happens at 17.

At first I thought maybe it's because 17 is such an idealistic age. You're still young enough to be innocent without being so completely stupid as 16 when you fall in love any boy who with a cute smile. Maybe it's because 17 is when you're becoming aware that there's life beyond your small town (because you're always from a small town in a country song) and begin to "spread your wings." Maybe it's because 17 is when you start to really think about the future even though you can't quite imagine anything beyond Friday night. Maybe it's because 17 is when your parents allow you more freedom, and thus you find yourself getting into more trouble due to a lack of supervision...

But then I thought, "no, it's none of that."

It's because Country musicians like to draaaaaaawl out their words to make as many syllables as possible, and 17 is the only teen with three syllables.

Simple as that.

Problem solved.

LB

I'm Back!

2008-08-12T06:09:00.000-07:00

Howdy!

I'm back from my trip to Texas, and I had a wonderful time! It was such a blessing to see my family and friends again, and thankfully I was able to spend some really great quality time with both. Here is a quick summary of the trip:

When I first arrived to the airport I had a HUGE surprise waiting for me. My mom, who was supposed to have been on the opposite side of the world, was there waiting for me! She was supposed to have left Texas a few days before I arrived, but due to a strike affecting her airline, she was delayed a WEEK, so after I walked out and hugged the rest of the family, we began walking towards the doors and hiding behind a column was my mom! I started to say "what are you doing here??" but burst into sobs as we hugged for several minutes, with me sobbing in that embarrassing way where you hiccup uncontrollably, and strangers staring at the girl and her mom making a huge scene. It was a happy surprise!

The next few days were spent spending time together - going to church, shopping, going to the discovery science place with the kids, swimming at my brother's hotel pool, eating Tex-Mex, Jason's Deli, Texas Roadhouse (all of those things I can't get here!), swimming at the lake, playing on the swing set...we were non-stop! It was great though - the only thing we didn't get around to was going to the zoo, but we managed to spend tons of quality time without the zoo, so it was okay. :) My niece and nephew are awesome swingers, and Vivi has NO fear and wants to do everything her big brother does! Except wear clothes...she played outside in just her diaper and shoes! It was adorable.

Then on Wednesday my sister's family and I drove to Dallas to take my mom to the airport, and then down to College Station so I could try on the bridesmaid dress. We ate at one of my favorite CS restaurants: Blue Baker!! Afterwards, we let the kids run around the fountain for a while since they had just spent about 5+ hours in the car that day! While playing at the fountain, Vivian kept running up to me giving me tons of hugs. What a sweet memory she left me with!

Thursday after lunch my family and I parted and I spent the rest of the day with Lissy and Greg. I was so thankful for the opportunity to spend so much quality time with both the Bride and the Groom. Weddings are so crazy and often times the couple is so busy that friends and family barely get to spend meaningful time with them, but I was blessed to be able to spend a lot of precious time with the both of them. I love you Lissy and Greg!

Friday was the Rehearsal Dinner and we had a delicious fajita dinner at Pappasito's. It was so exciting to have almost all of our close friends together again - I needed that so bad. I've missed being with people I can just "let go" with and be my goofy, awkward self. I know that I'm safe with them, that they love me, and I love them all so much. God has blessed me with an incredible group of guys and girls that encourage each other, challenge each other, make each other laugh, support each other in hard times, accept each other how we are but hold each other accountable to be what God wants us to be, and I hope and pray that despite our physical distance we NEVER lose the incredibly special friendship that we have. We girls in this picture are just a few of this quite large yet very tight group of friends, and we 6 became close friends our freshman year at A&M and I've learned so much from each one of them. I love you girls!!

The day of the wedding was wonderful. The bridesmaids and house party spent most of the morning at a salon getting our hair done and pedicures, chatting, laughing, eating more Jason's Deli (did I mention that's my favorite??), and enjoying our time together as girls. Then we went to the church to finish getting ready and watch our precious friends make a beautiful commitment. It was a wonderfully special day; one that I'll never forget. Isn't the Bride beautiful?

The reception was lovely. We had a delicious surf 'n turf dinner followed by super-yummy wedding cake. The Bride's cake was gorgeous, and the groom's cake was an XBox360 with game controller. Yes. And if you know Greg, you'll agree that it was perfectly suited to him.

We all had a great time dancing like wild dancing fools, and even got Rick Rolled by the Bride and Groom on the dance floor! It was a night to remember!

After the reception quite a few of us went to Lindsay's house where we watched some Olympics, talked and laughed, and spent a few sweet hours together. Sunday I went to the airport and headed back across the ocean, and now here I am! It was a great trip and well worth it to see my family and friends. If only I had a never-ending budget and could take a trip like that every few months!! But alas, this will have to suffice for the next year or two. Until then I shall rely upon my friends and family to make the trip this direction. Each and every memory of my trip home is a sweet one, and for that I am so thankful!

LB

How Long Has It Been???

2008-07-28T05:53:00.001-07:00

Yep, it's been a long time since I've updated...well...a real update that is, and a lot has been going on!

Let's see...this group of Aggie girls hung out with me one evening at the beginning of the month. It was WONDERFUL!!

I also received a visit from a high school friend, Anna. We hadn't seen each other for FIVE years! She spent a weekend here and it was great catching up, showing her around the city, etc.

All the while I was working a 2 week long basketball camp. We had over 100 kids and a great time! One of the little girls was my "mini-mi." I didn't even notice it until one of the coaches pointed out that we look a lot alike, and I think he was right! She even makes funny faces in the camera like I'm known to do!

During the last week of the basketball camp, Julie came to visit!! Julie and I have known each other since we were 4 or 5, and have been best friends since middle school. We hadn't seen each other since January, and even then, only for an evening - before that we hadn't seen each other since October, and only for an evening, and before that it was August!! This is the longest we've gone since we were tiny tots without seeing each other!! It's been almost a year since we've had one-on-one time!! I missed my JuJuBee!!

Also, one of the moms from the basketball camp gave us free tickets to a bullfight, so Julie got to experience my very first bullfight with me! It's quite controversial here, and I'll be honest - it is pretty cruel to the animals. I'm not an animal rights activist, but I'm not out to get them either. So I'm ashamed to admit that I kind of enjoyed parts of it - but not the bloody part. It was a good cultural experience, but sad to watch the bulls die so slowly and painfully. I've decided that I prefer Texas rodeo. Bucking broncos, bull riding, calf tying...but no killing. Even if they do eat the meat, is it really necessary to watch it die so slowly and painfully??

On Thursday evening I'll be going to Amsterdam where I'll spend the night with a family and Friday morning I'll hop on a plane to Texas. My first meal: Abuelo's Mexican Embassy. Oh yes. I'm going to get one of those massive platters that has a little bit of everything on it. Don't worry - I won't eat it all, but when you've only got one shot at it, there's no way you can choose between avocado enchiladas, chile rellenos, or chicken enchiladas with sour cream sauce. Not when you won't have another chance for a good year or more.

Yuum.

I'll spend a few days with my family and then a few days in Houston before being a bridesmaid in Greg and Lissy's wedding. :)

And now I must do chores and run errands before evening comes!! Time is too short!

-LB

More to Come Soon!

2008-07-26T15:27:00.000-07:00

The past two weeks have been SUPER busy - we had a big basketball camp going on (100+ kids!), a friend from high school named Anna spent a weekend with me, and now Julie is here spending almost a week visiting, so between basketball camp in the mornings, meetings with the coaches/being a tour guide for them in the evenings, Anna and Julie, I've been a super busy girl. But starting Monday things should slow down...well...a little bit...so I'll post some pictures soon to update you on the happenings on this side of the Atlantic.

Stay tuned!

Please Don't Stop The Music

2008-07-13T08:11:00.000-07:00

Friday evening while walking to meet somebody I turned onto a small street to immediately hear, "All by myseeeeeelf....don't wanna be.." from somebody's open apartment window.

Just now, somebody just pulled up to the intersection outside my apartment with their windows rolled down and their radio BLARING Smashmouth's "Hey now, you're a rockstar, get your game on, go play..."

Does anybody else find that really funny? Or is it just me?