child at heart

I didn’t realize it had been so long since I last updated until my grandparents mentioned it to me. Life has been super crazy for me since I got back home and it seems there is always one thing after another. I still haven’t really caught my breath yet. Let me try and fill you in on the past craziness. I’m in the process of typing up my Kenya journal so as soon as I some of it typed and it’s in a logical place to stop I will update it so you can join in on the awesomeness that was Africa.
July: Came home. I went to the aquarium with the famjam the day I got back and was able to spend some good quality time with them. I rather enjoyed it. I worked a TON to try to save money and get caught back up with finances so I could get registered for hopefully my last semester of classes.
August: This whole month seemed like on epic fail after another. First off the bank screwed me over with the last bit of money I had in my savings account with usage fees and withdrawal fees while I was overseas. I left with $600 in my account which was enough that I would be able to pay the down payment for classes and have a little cushion as well, to having only $1.50. I’ve never wanted to burn a bank down as bad as I wanted to with Max. God provided though. I went to Faulkner to pay the last bit of balance I had from the spring semester and it ended up being $300 less that I thought it was going to be! I ended up having a scholarship come in late and it covered almost all the bill. Within that same week I had to go to the doctor and was so confused as to how I was going to pay my co pay since I literally had $3 to my name. I went and asked them to send me the bill and I would pay as soon as I could. I never got a bill so I called and they told me I had overplayed in May just the exact amount of my co pay so I didn’t end up owing anything. I was so excited I ended up crying. I thought things were looking up so I planned all my classes out and independent studies so that I would be able to graduate a semester early and be done for good in December 2009. WRONG! They only offered 2 of the 6 classes I needed and they would not give me 4 independent studies at once. On top of that I did not have the $500 down payment so I was looking at either a loan or taking a semester off. Guess which one won? So after a day of crying, being VERY mopey and extremely disappointed in myself for not being able to graduate in 4.5 years I accepted the fact that I would not be taking classes this semester. I finally realized that God was not surprised that I would not be taking classes and that he had a reason for it all. I still am not to happy about this new development but I move on and accept it.
I also had some good things come out of August. The first weekend Joey and I went with 2 of our aunts, Charlene and Beni, to pick up our new “cousins” from the airport. They both have exchange students from Australia, Kirstie and Livy. We were able to meet them and go to eat with them the day they flew in and have been able to get to know them a bit since then. They will be here with us through the first of January and then they will go back home. They are both young, 15 but super sweet and funny. That weekend I also had an early birthday party since people will actually be in school on my birthday. The only requirement was that you HAD to be dressed up as someone else to enter the house. I ended up being Sally ragdoll from The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Joey was the nurse Joker from The Dark Knight. I had fun and I sewed my dress myself. Talk about super strenuous. By the end of that dress I wanted to get married in it because of all the effort and time I had put into it. It turned out great. Joey on the other hand was straight up SCARY. He wore a women’s outfit, wig, red and white stripped stockings and the Joker makeup. It was a sight to see. Everyone looked so good in their costumes and I had loads of fun. I also got addicted to the crack that is known as Harry Potter. I finished all 7 books in about 2 weeks and I was devastated when it ended. It felt like I was loosing some serious friendships. (Don’t judge me – I get into my books). Mom and I went on a mother-daughter date and went and saw the 6th Harry Potter movie. It was fun and we had a good time. We also went together to my first Family Faith Night at the Biscuits stadium and saw a good game (we won) and the fireworks were amazing. Yes we ate like pigs and yes we acted like goofballs but we did enjoy ourselves just the same.
My friend Bootstraps (long story in and of itself) has been bothering me like crazy to come to the campus ministry at AUM and I finally decided to come, and boy was I glad I did. I met so many new awesome people, and was able to hear some really great, reformed teaching at the same time. Defiantly something I will be making as a habit on Monday nights. I also had a mission’s update party at the house and invited lots of people from the church and others for like a question and answer session about Africa. It turned out great. I was able to show pictures, let people read my journals and pull out all my things from Africa for people to see. It was really fun but it really made me miss being overseas. I cannot wait to do that full time if it’s the Lord’s will.
August brought lots of serious things as well. I turned 22 so I became an adult for real. No turning back and tons of responsibility ahead. Most of those changes didn’t start taking place until September so I will write about them a little later. I started teaching the 3 year old Sunday school class again and am taking it seriously this year. God has really put those children on my heart. I also made the decision to go to Southeast Asia with my church for almost 2 weeks. A total new culture and new experience, but my mother also decided to go too so I think it will be great for us to experience together.
September: This month has already been super crazy. I’ve started with my adult responsibilities. I pay all my own health insurance (I have already been doing that for a while), my phone bill, the car insurance is now in my name, the car title is about to be in my name and I started a Roth IRA. I’m not going to lie – I might pee a little bit I’m so scared about it. I was able to get the last of my shots for SEA last week AND I’ve still got my passport so I’m ready to go on the trip. This past weekend we had the rookie retreat for all the new 7th graders that just bumped up into the youth group, and for some strange reason Randy trusted me as a chaperone for all the girls. We all went up to Lake Martin for the weekend and had a wonderful time of fellowship and learning. We had rookie Olympics (team domination ALL the way – even though we lost), a half day of water fun and tons of double stuff Oreos. I’m salivating now just thinking about it. I think I benefited from it just as much as the rookies.
I was able to see the new Tim Burton movie the other night with lots of friends, and have just really come to appreciate all the time I’ve been given with my sweet friends this semester. I’ve also started this new game at the house with mom. I’ve got a little koala clip that I’ve been hiding around the house to see how long it takes mom to find him, and then she hides him and I do the same thing. It’s really funny. I think I’m on day 4 now and she still hasn’t found him yet.  Take that back, she just looked up and found him as I was reading that last sentence out loud. I will let her hide him and then it’s my turn to be on the lookout. Last week mom broke the front of our house while she was watering her plants. She leaned against one of our columns and it fell over into the front yard. In her defense, it has had water damage on the bottom of it for a about a year now and it was just a ticking time bomb as to when it would actually fall over. I’m happy it wasn’t me, because I would have peed myself. And that normally my luck. On Wednesday night Joey and myself are going to a friend from work’s church and sharing our testimony and a little about Africa to the kids there. I’m excited. He’s trying to get them motivated in their faith – I will tell you how it goes.
On another note please pray for the following people: Debey, Bella, Jodie, Shawn, Scott, Tommy and Shannon as we go to South East Asia in only 26 days. (October 10 – 21st) Please pray for our work there, sorry but I cannot go into any more detail than that. We ask for prayers for travel safety as well as open doors in the airports and the places we will be going. Even though you do not know the specifics God does, and that’s pretty much all that matters. Please pray for comfort for those in our families as we are gone, and for our hearts and minds to be opened by the Lord.
I will be updating the Kenya 09 page as soon as possible. Keep a lookout and I will try to get back into updating on a regular basis.