Home Sweet Home...

I am back safe and sound. My luggage didn't make it but should be dropped off at my house, God willing. I left almost everything I took thought so I am not to worried about it. The thing I want back the most is my luggage itself.

As for a quick recap, I had a wonderful trip. I am exhausted and still trying to process the utter magnitude of what the Lord is teaching me... I will have much more to tell you in the next few days. Until then, here is a picture.

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I will be out of the country on a mission trip until July 8th. I will not have Internet access and thus will be unable to post until my return. If you would like to leave a message (encouragement and prayer is very welcome) please do so and I will get back to you when I get back. Thanks and have a great day!!!

***NOTE: If you leave a comment on my blog, please do not write the name of the country I will be in. This is for my safety and the safety of my team as the country monitors blogs. Thank you. ***

I miss England

It is almost year to the day since I left for my big study abroad adventure... And retrospectively, I learned and grew so much through my trip. I still can't believe I left the country for 7 weeks. It all seems kinda surreal at times.

Anyway, I have been going through England withdrawals all summer in moderation. Until today... Today my firm got a new temporary paralegal that is British and my withdrawals increased tenfold. She is from London to be exact and today I realized all over again how much I love England... We talked over lunch and randomly throughout the day and talking to her sent me down memory lane big time.

I just love everything about England. (Not to single England out, I also was very impressed with Scotland and France.) I think part of why I loved my study abroad experience so much is it was the first time I was truly independent. I had to depend solely on myself to do everything... and I survived. :) But additionally, England is beautiful and the weather is fairly nice in the summers (even if it does rain some). I also loved all the history. There are actually buildings there that are over 250 years old!!! You can't get that in America. Lastly and extremely superficially (as I experienced yet again today), I just love British accents. I don't know what it is, but I think they are the cutest accents ever. I wish I could mimic it well, but after a summer abroad and a day at work with my newest British friend... I am still HORRIBLE at faking the accent. :( Oh well, can't be good at everything.

I plan to work on my accent through the summer though. You will have to gauge my progress when you see me. :) I am not sure how long the paralegal will be with us, but I am going to study her voice while I can. I am sure she is thrilled... Hehe...

Laundry

So this weekend I finally took a minute to breath and it felt good. :) On Sunday after church I sat around the apt and did 4 loads of laundry. I love laundry day... It requires me to stay at my apt for an extended period of time and just be. I got organized, cleaned, spent some time in the Word, and had quality time with my roommate. It was low key but really nice and needed...

Being that the summer is almost half over and it feels like it started two days ago, I think I have been going too fast recently. Life has seemed like a string of events and looking at my calendar not much is going to change in the near future... But I love my life and I love being busy so I really should not complain. I need to learn to appreciate the many blessing the Lord bestows upon me and all of the wonderful friends I have and when it all gets a little overwhelming... I can always take a laundry day to relax. :)

Babysitting

I got to babysit my second cousin Jessica again on Sunday night so Jacki and John could have a date night in celebration of Father's Day. It was so much fun and I hold fast to my opinion that Jessica is a baby genius. She is 13 months old and says "mama", "dada" and "bye-bye." She knows some of her baby sign language but doesn't always use it. She also can blow kisses and is walking like there is no tomorrow. It is amazing how much I love a little blob that is pretty much helpless but is about the cutest thing I have ever seen. I know I am bias, but she is pretty adorable... Look:

I know... you love her a little bit too and you don't even know her. Baby cuteness is mighty powerful. :)

Female Grill Master?

The title of grill master is usually reserved for the man of the house... And I have no problem with that, but when there is no man around to cook meat, what is a girl to do?

Mel and I had been wanting red meat for quite a while and decided to have a cookout on Saturday to quiet the cravings. However, as it turns out all of our guy friends were busy on Saturday night and no one could come and grill for us. So we decided to journey into the world of grilling unsupervised. We got some charcoal and a wonderful T-bone from Pete's Fine Meats and grilled out by her pool.

We put the charcoal on the grill, lit it on fire and waited until the coals were white hot. We then put the steak on the grill for 2 minutes to sear in all the juices. We flipped it and cooked it for 4 minutes on the other side then flipped it once more for 4 minutes on the original side and within minutes we had steak.... Not just any steak... GREAT STEAK. I am one to boast, as you all know, but this steak was quite fantastic. I was pretty shocked. Part of why it was wonderful is that it was expensive steak seasoned well by Pete's and the other part of its fantastic taste is attributed to the fact that Mel and I did not screw up the grilling process! :) We were quite proud of ourselves and our meat craving was satisfied for the moment.

Here are some pictures to prove that 2 girls can actually grill. :)

Still Sick

I am still a little sick. I have been coughing all day and my throat feels a little raw. But it was a great day none the less because I had my second mission trip meeting tonight and it went really well. I am so excited about my team. As Jen Cates said tonight "We are a team of leaders" which is pretty true. Most of my teammates are as loud and determined as me. ;) Oddly enough it makes for a good combination. Don't ask me how... God is good. :) I think the trip is going to be pretty freaking awesome!!!

Yummy Tea!!!

So upon my return from Vegas I developed a nasty sore throat. One of my friends lovingly made the comment:

Sore throat?!? That is what you get sinner for going to Vegas!!! Just kidding!!! hahaha....seriously, get better!!!!

I thought it was appropriate and hysterical. I now have what appears to be a full fledged cold. I slept in until 11 today and am feeling a ton better but I still feel a little out of it. My head is kinda hovering above my head and thinking seems harder than normal. ;) But it is not that bad and I think I should be back to normal by tomorrow or the next day.

The best part of being sick is it finally made me to to Target and get a tea kettle. I have had Teavana Tea for a few weeks now (thank you Erin for my wonderful birthday present) but had yet to make any tea... Unitl today. I have made a cup of Rooibos Tropica and Mate Vana and they could not be better. You should all try them!!! I will make you tea anytime... Though you may want to wait until I am feeling better. I don't want to get you sick. :)

Las Vegas

Vegas was fun, but it is good to be home. Amber and I spent our days walking the strip, running the strip (it cost $22 a day to work out at our hotel so we ran on the strip instead), laying out at the pool, or shopping and we spent our nights at shows. Neither of us gambled a dime. Thus, we broke even... a hard feat in Vegas. We saw the Blue Man Group and Jerry Seinfeld. Both shows were great. I have to say I liked the Blue Man Group better in Vegas than in Houston. At one point they send sheets and sheets of crate paper down the rows and you are swimming in it... It is quite enjoyable.

I don't know what to tell you about so I will leave it to the highlights:

• On the plane ride to Vegas we were sitting behind Froggy from The Little Rascals and a man with an extremely long mullet. Behind me was a very loud drunk lady that would not stop cussing. She mentioned being drunk since 8 am (our flight was at 11:30) and during the turbulence while landing she exclaimed “Ohhhh… I should not have had that last one!” At which point I began praying she would not throw up on me…. Thankfully she didn’t.
• Once in Vegas we rode a shuttle to the hotel. Our driver was insane. He almost hit the car in front of us at one point and Amber’s dad had to tell him to watch out. After screeching to a halt about 4 inches from the car in front of him and slamming all of us into the seat in front of us he turned, grinned and exclaimed “I told you I was a bad driver!!!” He almost hit a baby in a stroller and a few other pedestrians on the journey. Two of them were patrons from our shuttle… They should have known better!!!
• Everything in Vegas is EXPENSIVE!!! Just a warning…
• While walking on the strip the first day there, a quite disgusting man told us “You are beautiful…………. Both of you.” Amber and I were excited that we both got the oh so enjoyable feeling of feeling violated. Apparently he liked both blondes and brunettes.
• A few notable shirts stuck out while we were walking along the strip: One said “No Uglys Allowed” and the other said “Bow Chicka Wow Wow”

I am sure I am forgetting a ton. Amber… What else?!?!?

Rock Climbing

Tonight I went rock climbing with my wonderful friends Dinah and Jeff. Dinah and I climbed and Jeff did a little bouldering...In flop-flops... After a quick training we were ready to go. We climbed for about 2 hours and I had forgotten how much fun rock climbing is. I had an absolute blast (partly because the company was quite spectacular). I also had forgotten how tiring rock climbing is. I was such a wimp and I am REALLY sore. Hopefully it will all work itself out by tomorrow... I have some running to do! :)

Here are some pictures... The rest are here if you are interested.