Sunday, September 26, 2010

It was like a 100 degrees today. I didn't look at a thermostat, but it was dang hot! Last week in Seattle I was wearing boots and sweaters, this week tank tops and flip flops. I love my life! The hot and cold parts of it!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

oh how I miss Seattle...

My trip to Seattle was amazing as always. First things first... a trip to Seattle would not be complete without a trip to Emerald City Smoothie. If you know anything about me, it is that I LOVE Emerald City. Can you tell how darn excited I am? P.S. notice my way cute necklace that Katie made for me for my birthday! I know you are all jealous. I also have one in yellow!

P.P.S. Notice that I am wearing a skirt and a light sweater in Seattle! It was amazing!
Katie and Karin after we made Red Velvet Cupcakes. Katie's mom sent her the mix for Sprinkles Cupcakes, so we made them and indulged ourselves. They were very yummy despite the fact that they don't look as good as the professional ones!
Appletini anyone?
Downtown Seattle...I could not ask for better friends!
We really wanted to get some good photos, it has been so long! People must have thought we were crazy...

Karin and I

Katie and I
Notice the boots....I am so excited it is fall!

It really was perfect weather the entire time I was there. And I decided to embrace the rain, so it really didn't bother me! I got to do everything I wanted while I was there. I spent time with my cousins which is always one of my favorite things! That is also where I got introduced to the appletini. Oh, and we can't forget the Puyallup fair. The food there wasn't very good, but the SCONES made up for it. I must have looked like a complete fat kid when I was ordering them. I ordered 3 dozen. Thankfully they were not all for me. A dozen was for my cousin, and a dozen I froze to bring back to California. Hopefully they thaw well! Then I spent the weekend in Seattle and got to spend time with Katie and Karin. We shopped, crafted, walked to Seattle, and just hung out. It was so fun! And then of course, I got to fulfill some of my eating traditions, Emerald City which you already saw, and Burger Express. Next time I will have to go to Vinces. There was just not enough time. All in all, it was a great trip. I already can not wait to go back. But being back in California was much needed. Hopefully the weather stays nice and I can get some sun!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

4 weeks already?

I can hardly believe that tomorrow marks 4 weeks from being home from Haiti. Life still is not the same, which I am very thankful for.
Things like cold showers don't bother me anymore (although I don't know how I will feel about this come fall and winter), and it still saddens me on the weekends at church when the children's staff is not running away plugging their ears like they did in Haiti when we taught them a song that said "shout," and they actually really shouted! One of the things I miss dearly about being in Haiti was all the quiet time that we had. We could sit on the roof and pray, read, worship, or just sit and be. Here it isn't as possible to just enjoy the quiet. People seem to think that you always want to be interrupted. There are also more distractions in everyday daily life. For instance, I have a computer and cell phone at my fingertips. I have a car so that I am always on the go. I am not ever forced to just sit and be. I know that I am guilty of not forcing this quiet time either. I need to get better at sitting and talking to God, as well as sitting and listening.
This past week I have been driving over to my cousin Tisha's house a lot. One of the reasons this is so exciting is that they are repaving the road. Tisha constantly tells me how she feels like she is in the country. It always brings a smile to my face because it reminds me of being in Haiti as we bobbed up and down in the back seat of the car. Or even better yet, when we were riding in the back of the truck, holding on for dear life and praying that we didn't hit a pot hole and fly out. Like I said, sometimes it is the small things.
I miss sharing a bathroom with four other girls. I miss having children stand outside our door, knocking on our door, or yelling under the door at us. I miss our dance parties. I miss the scorching heat. And sweating from every crevice of my body. I miss having a cold coca-cola or sprite. And having kids yell "hey you" at me when they wanted something. I miss the anticipation of waking up and being soo curious as to what they were going to serve us for breakfast. I miss thinking up ways to make it look like I had eaten whatever it was that they gave us. I miss listening to the same songs everyday. I miss preparing the craft for the next day, and getting so excited to see the kids' reactions. I miss the rain storms. I miss laughing hysterically when we would all become delusional. I miss the fresh mango. I miss tormenting Anna by making her take vitamins. I miss being stared at because we were white. I miss all the entertaining comments we got where ever we went. I miss Pastor Millian and Gustave. I miss smelling my clothes to decide what to wear by seeing which smelled the least.
I do NOT miss the foreign bugs. Or putting on bug juice several times a day. I do not miss "celtics shorts boy." I do not miss the sausages that we had for breakfast. I do not miss eating raw top ramen. Or licorice flavored cream of wheat.
Clearly the list of what I do not miss is much shorter than what I do miss. Both lists could go on if I sat here longer. I still anticipate the daily the day when I can go back. Maybe this time I will choose a cooler time of the year to go back. But I still would not change a thing about our trip!