C.R. and Panama!

This has been such an awesome weekend. But I should start by writing about the week; it just feels like forever ago.

We did service Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Yay, finally we have enough calls and knowledge of the area to stay out reallly late! But not past dark, because we are not allowed…..haha. Plus me and Emily have been starting early. We just walk outside our gate and start talking to people.I love how even the really busy people will take the magazine and read it while they walk. Emily started an amazing Bible study with this girl who already prays for holy spirit before reading the Bible. Emily is going back tomorrow.

Then on Thursday we took the bus to Panama! at like 6am in the morning. I am the lazy butt who couldn't get out of bed early enough to walk to the bus station so we took a lovely 2 dollar taxi. I love the affordable taxis! It was hard work going from the bus ride to customs to walking across the Panama/Costa Rica bridge/border, then customs in Panama then a bus ride to the water, then a boat ride to Bocas del Toro island!   But well worth it! The cell phone did not work here so we found a pay phone and called the Pauls and then waited for them to meet us. I got the yummiest blended coffee with banana and cinnamon!

Emily's friends the Pauls are sooo nice and hospitable. We walked around the center for a little and then ate dinner at the Pauls, then played rummy! We stayed at this little hostel next to their place and got to take hot showers at their house!

Friday it was a little overcast, so we rented snorkel gear from a sister for 5 bucks. That was my first time snorkeling and it was awesome! Apparently the conditions were bad, but I had never seen better conditions, so I loved it. We saw coral reef and two little black fish!

I will finish this post later cori needs the interenet to do schoolwork!!!!!! andways i misss you guys!!!!!!!

More pictures!

bus ride home

happy sunny faces, at the bus station

mud bath?

SUNSHINE!

So the weather report said today was the only non raining day this week, so we ran off to the nearest pretty beach. Cahuita beach was super pretty. It reminded me of the bachelorette when they are in tahiti. You could walk out like a mile (I am guessing, i was too scared to go that far) and the water is all waist level and calm and the perfect temperature! And on the other side of the beach their Cahuita National park which we walked a few miles through to get to the pretty beach. We saw so many monkeys in the trees and these giant sized lizards. I think they might actually be baby iguanas or snake lizard mutations. I'm going to look them up later. And we saw lots of crabs. I love the bus ride back at night. The windows are really big so you can see all the trees and the ocean on the side of the road. It was super loud and the wind was blowing a lot! And it was kinda cold because it was night.

Pictures! that i stole off emily and cori's facebook

Me and Cori can't tell who is who in pictures sometimes...

That blob is a giant pig that Emily and Cori saw out in service.

Sunny day in service

Puerto Viejo

This is our little apartment

This is where we shop! It is like 5 minutes from our house.

Air matress in the water!!

hehe PIZZA anyone.....??

I crashed their lesson! :)

Cori and Emily saying "buenos!"

Mom doesn't he look so much like Gidget?

At the bus station

another one from the congregation beach day. I love this picture.

Week 2 Limon

We went to Peurto Viejo last weekend. It was sorta rainy…We did get to go to a monkey rescue/rehab place. The monkeys were so cute! We were put in a cage with them and they got to hang on to our necks and we got to hold them! Monkeys hand's are kinda creepy how they look so much like human hands. We also saw a friendly toucan bird. It looked just like the bird from Lion King! There was this couple getting a surf lesson on the cloudy beach… I wanted to surf soooo bad, and he gladly let me tag along with them and lent me a surf board!!! The waves were so fun!! There is this random huge rusty metal ship looking thing in the middle of the ocean which created a fun little break! Apparently all the rainstorms has caused the oceans to get all mixed up, so there was tons of branches and weed things in the water.

Monday was crazy! It was torrentially down pouring all day. And poor Emily got really sick.. She couldn't eat for a couple days. :( But now it is Thursday and she is feeling better. Me and Cori went on a cooking spree being stuck in the house from the rain.

Service has been wonderful! It is crazy this trip is already half over. I feel like I am just beginning to know my way around Limon and how to get to my calls. We went to the pioneer meeting on Wednesday. This congregation is so loving. It was such an encouraging meeting! What stood out to me was the emphasis on being positive and not comparing Limon territory to our territory back home. And the part about taking a break and not burning out. And then at the end of the meeting they gave everyone bookmarks with their names and scriptures, it was so sweet. And then they gave all the local pioneers pretty umbrellas with their names on it. And the little kids turned on the Rhianna song Under my umbrella and then all the cute old pioneers danced with their umbrellas. It was so adorable!
We are planning a little excursion to Bocas del Toro next week. I hope it is sunny!!!

The territory here is really amazing! Trish has 18 Bible studies! She is an awesome Bible study conductor! I took lots of little notes from all the illustrations she used. She lives off $25 a week. She is awesome! We met like 5 minutes from our place today. It started to rain like 10 minutes in to doing territory. It was hard to do mapping and detailed note taking with the rain coming so hard, so we did return visits. I went on a ton of Bible studies with Trish. Then we ate lunch at her house, she has so many spices; we don't have any spices in our house, and made hot tea and went back out into the rain. It was actually pretty cold! I was so glad to have my dorky croc shoes. The dinky umbrella is pretty much trashed after today... It was pretty exciting. I started 3 little Bible studies this week! One with this 94 year old Jamaican, another with the lady who makes the yummy fried yucca rolls with meat and cheese, and this other lady who goes to some church, it was hard finding her house!

(Someone......Invited us for pizza....It was interesting to say the least. )

Cori and Emily had a chill at home day today, they had to do like tons of walking yesterday- They worked the beach territory and walked through tons of mud. It sounded pretty cool (I did calls with a sister who has a car-haha no walking).

Tomorrow we are going to Cahuita! I want to surf soooo bad!!! It is so interesting living with two vegetarians! We eat a lot of vegetables and rice. I sneak onions into my guacamole and found yummy Carribean chicken out in service. So I tried working out really hard to get really hot so the cold shower would be more bearable, but it didn't work....

WEEK 1!!!

Limon is lovely and sooooo ghettto. We did service all Friday it was very hot! Saturday we did service all morning, I placed like 2 books and 2 magazine and started my notebook of return visits. None were crazy interested people but they are so chilled out and easy going. My presentation went something like "If you could live forever would you want to?" response.... "Yeah man of course!!!" We have to work the territory slower than usual, because the CO just came and emphasized taking not at homes which is hard work since they don't have street names or numbers. So they have to draw a map and then fill in tons of information.

We went to this little local beach after service. It was only 5 minutes away and yes there was trash on the beach too. Cori made a delicious noodle and pepper dinner and we played cards or something and went to bed. Sunday we had meeting in the morning and then the whole congregation has like there big beach day! We went to playa Folleta. It was very pretty, much more junglier than the one we stopped by the other day. The congregation is such a hoot. I will have to post some pics later. I love the little girls from Canada, I feel like I can relate to them, something about rolling in the dirt and being super bored and hot.

We did service again today! There is a cruise ship that docks here and they set out a table which we sat sat for like an hour! It was awesome! We saw lots of russian people. I love how like 1 out 4 people when waling around speak English.

The congregation is amazing. They seem to always have at least 20 people at the meetings for field service. They are so zealous and have a very big territory. There are a total of 13 congregations in Limon! They even gave us a cellphone to use here!

Oh so I heard about  3 Indians who live in Limon and so far two of them are my new return visits. They own little stores.  Krishna and Loxshmi are their names, how predictable..okk more later!!!

ahh weird internet wont let me upload this funny picture....

Limon, Costa Rica

 I like this place! We caught the C.O visit. And today we went out in service for 8 hours with the group! It is very hot. I forgot how the sun here seems to penetrate into your skin so much faster. (lots of spf needed) I went on 5 Bible studies this morning with this pioneer sister and her 2 daughters. She had to pull a lot of arms to get her family to move here from Canada. She is super good at talking with a Jamaican accent! We ran over a really bad pot hole that was covered with a piece of cardboard. All these guys start laughing at her beat up old car and then she jumps out and says "yo man what you be laughing at. You think that's funny! Of course I ran over dat hole. You put dat cardboard dere. Now I am gooing to make you read dis magazine!" She is awesome! Her 2 girls are soo cute, but look bored as ever. They endure a lot of heat sitting on those studies!

I love how it is so hilly that when you get to the top you can see the ocean. We got a really cheap place...with internet too.So now we can afford to go on excursions! YAY. The congregation here is so amazing! I think they have like 50 publishers but the attendance is always double.

Corri and Emily and I get along great! Me and Emily did p90x cardio yesterday! Corri has been getting over a cold :( so she stayed home today.

BUENOS NOCHES!

This Bed and Breakfast we are staying at is so cute. I can't wait to see what it looks like outside tomorrow! But we can hear a waterfall and there is a big cliff right outside the front door. The owners are witnesses and the even pick you up from the airport!

We tried ordering food in Spanish, but forgot the word for beans- frijoles. Now that's important! Tomorrow we are taking a bus to Limon! Hasta Leugo mi amgios!

vaccines.....

The new House episode was crazy! That show teaches you so much about vaccines. I had to get a ton of shots to do clinicals. It was so scary. On House the girl has to get shots into the bone behind her knee, it looks so painful. And in one episode the radioactive boy had to get shots into his spine ehhhh. The whole weeks before my mom was crying "ahh I spent my whole life keeping my children away from these horrible things." Nina was telling me how she was all emotionally sick after she got hers because of all the things mom said. Well I got 4 shots and a TB test! and I have to go back to get more doses in a month. Plus they were going to cost over 400 dollars, but at the last minute the nurse said they were free for those who are 18 and under! YES! They even wanted to give me more shots, pollio and meningitis, flu shot, But I would feel like such a traitor if I got excess ones. Then I went to get a physical and the guy who works at the front desk is a regular Barnie's customer and he gave me 50% off! So nice. Next week I am getting CPR certified. And then COSTA RICA!

3 more weeks!!!

Oh my I am so excited. In like 3 weeks.... Costa Rica.... I finally got a hold of people there, I was getting a little worried they wouldn't ever call me back.. So I called like 5 times everyday for one week. And he finally picked up today and was super nice and said he found us a place to stay and that there were tons of Bible studies for us to have so we will be very busy!

I love the cold weather we have been having. 50 degrees last weekend.

I am trying to help Kathy get a job at Barnies, she is going to sneak in Thursday for training. Then hopefully she won't have to go back to Korea.

BTW if anyone who reads this has seen a little black cannon powershoot camera around- mostly likely at a pool, let me know, I lost mine.

I love Pav Bhaji

I actually cooked for the first time in a very long time. I haven't wanted to in forever because my mom is always in the kitchen making spectacular creations! Yes, it is quite heavenly always having tons of tasty leftovers in the fridge because she still cooks for 7 people every night.

In New Jersey this family I stayed with made this mushy spicy vegetable dish that you serve on french bread with..geer? I think it was...fatty butter? Well it did look a little weird, but it tastes delicious! They seriously cook with so many spices. I was following the recipe, which is on the back of a box of spices. It is like 2 tablespoons of one spice to each green pepper and then 2 tablespoons of another spice to each tomato. It makes normal steamed vegetable look so plain. I was quite surprised that it turned out good! I was missing a few spices and peas, but it was still OK! or in hindi, swadisht!

Yes, and now I can have something in common with the vegetarian Indians. This lady I study with again brought up not eating meat...oh...I feel like it is such an offense to eat meat. So I quickly changed the subject to "YEAH pow budgi is the best, mushy vegetables are awesome, in fact I am going to go make some right now!"

boring side note- savannah cats are so cute! They are a breed of Serval cat (its like a small skinny tiger african looking cat) and house cat. I really want one! And there is the adorable video of a cat named Maru on youtube who puts bags on his head and walks around.

Watching the plane tickets....

Will they go up or will they go down.... So far they have gone down... But then orbitz says this is the last ticket at this price, buy quickly... I probably should just buy it and be thankful it's not spirit air! We have changed our plans again, now we are going to Limon, Costa Rica. It sounds like they have a greater need and there will be more for us to do there. Bouquete, Panama did sound beautiful so hopefully next time we can go there. The people sound super nice in limon, too!

This has really been an awesome week in service. I love getting the perfect amount of sleep. But I feel like such an old person having to go to bed so early... I went to visit my old Bible student, aww I had forgotten how much I love this lady, hopefully in a few months, once she has had her baby, she will resume her study. She is just the warmest, nicest person ever!

Kathy is getting shipped to Korea once her passport comes in the mail, but those passports can take quite a while, except that her parents got her a stupid expedited one. I am sure it will be an awesome adventure for preaching with the English group there. It is just very sad that she has to go so sudden and forced. I am going to miss her so much and she is going to miss her....Lexus

SOOOO I am so happy, on Thursday I got this big envelope in the mail.... I got into the nurse program! YEAH. Happy, but sad because it = one year of torture. I will be happy once it is over. I am trying to go out extra extra from today-December because I have a feeling I won't want to that much with eww full time school in January.

IT"S A WHOLE NEW WORLD!

What a busy month this has been! September went so fast that I will view September and October as one month. It was so nice to see Avril, and to have a little family reunion type thing. We also got to see a special couple visit before going to gilead! AWWW! Then there was the Erin's wedding and then there was the infamous visit from Abbyrilla to finish the week up with, (not to call you a gorilla or anything it just stuck in my head). Soph and Caleb joined the Chinese congregation. I am so happy for them! I went to the meeting with them today and it was sooo nice! Such friendly people and the chinese students are very appreciative. And they seem to all love Disney!!! Absolutely blew my mind seeing the white people read from their character Bibles, yes the ones without the pinyin. WOW.

I have found some buddies to go Panama with, YAY, they want to go the exact same time I do, how perfect is that. Apparently, december is high tourist time so I had to go on strike to save for a plane ticket. Yes, that meant no unplanned visits to the mall! HAHAH I beat you mall for a whole 40 days! I had not entered the beautiful shiney place until today when Sophie and Caleb and myself were mid way home and waaalaa the MALL OF MILLENIA!!!! It was impossible to resist. ;) But anyways I am so excited to go this December! We are still planning it out a little by little and it looks like we will be in Bouquete, which was ranked number 4 top place to retire one year, thus the english speaking population there which we will be preaching to!

Oh this delightful weather just makes everything better. Yes, there is actually a fall this fall in Florida. I believe Abby brought it with her from Wisconsin. The national were fantastic. Abby warned of his attempts at screaming and yes they were pretty ridiculous. Tired and wired we ruin to easy.
Well I have a cold-most likely due to the sudden 100 to 60 degrees change in temperature- so back to super mario smash brothers on caleb's Wii. Kirby is the bomb!

family photos

family photos
Originally uploaded by iamvioletta

OH how I miss Avril. Our house is so quiet now that she is gone. I got used to her being back. She sure is one big ball of energy. We died doing p90x all week. She is going to school to be a personal trainer so she was awesome motivater! OHHH I MISS HER!

family photos

family photos
Originally uploaded by iamvioletta

I am snatching vi's pictures, thank you... Oh I miss Avril! She is just one big ball of energy! I searched for tickets to go visit her today, our house is just so quiet now! Apparently I am so mean to her whenever she slept in my bed. I guess I threw her hand and said get your grimey little hand off me.

PICTURES

Oh school is so silly. They sent me home today to "get transcripts". Of all things... This mean grumpy lady explained to me in detail that there are so many fake diplomas out there soo she would have to see transcripts and when she graduated 30 years ago she had to have them as well and they needed to be official with credits and blah blah blah. I really don't have time to wait for transcripts, seeing that the deadline for this program is sept 13. So I went home and typed up a pretty little home school transcript- I really hope they accept this one.


Here are some pictures from NY and the convention. The English one last weekend was so good, I have never appreciated just understanding what they are saying so much! We had Jackson as our visiting speaker, too!! This has been a super spiritual feasting month! Especially, because we have co this week as well. It was so nice singing out of the new song book in Hindi. The songs are way easier and very pretty.

This is the family I stayed with

In Prue's studio-she made the mural in the background!!

REALLY Cute mouse- make this one big really he's so cute

This place had tasty coffee! and a funny waiter who sounded like he had a fake french accent...

The room was so colorful with all the outfits and the girl on the right had an awesome African outfit on.

TIFAH! and My MOM and I

Central Park

Meagan and I

The Mouse House-Me and Neen's favorite spot. hehe

Poor Kitty, Hindi Convention, and A day in NYC

Picasso IS Alive. He needed an estimated $900 to save him! (catheters, updated shots, anesthesia, intensive monitoring, antibiotics, removal or crystals in bladder, and the list goes on) ahhh I just started crying ridiculously and told them to put him down. Well the vet staff all started crying too. And I heard the cat doctor saying "she better not feed him that crap food anymore" They did the surgery for the same price I was going to pay to have him put down.

WOW convention was very different! Hearing things in your mother tongue makes such a difference! I can't wait for English next week! I had to listen so hard! It gets so tiresome so after 6 talks of that I just zoned out. But then I remembered ha this is in English just across the hall. So, yes, brother Losch's concluding talk was absolutely amazing! It was very encouraging seeing people from so many different Hindi groups. There are a lot more than a thought! I met the nicest people from Montreal and now I really want to go visit them! It seems like quite a lot of the Indian people speak English better than Hindi. (The younger ones did their schooling all in English and a lot of the older ones have just been here such a long time that speak english better) But, they all seem to love listening to Hindi. So many people said that Hindi is just so comfortable to listen to. I bet it just sinks into their ears they way English does to mine. Pretty much all of the groups I think have had a class, so maybe we will too!!!

I have a new found love for Indian food- I think its called jumbaleya- mushy vegetables have never tasted so good! The family I stayed with were so nice and cooked like crazy! Oh and the Indian Chai tea every moring! Starbucks doesn't even come close.

I haven't gotten to NY but i will finish later

Augusto

HOLA! MI HERMANAISIMO EN COSTA RICA. LA PLAYA DEL MAR MUY CALIENTE EN EL VERANA. CIAO

This has been a very good month! Doing nothing but service last month was awesome because you get a fresh set of calls! I only need like 40 hours this month so I got to work a lot.... and skip service and just go on calls/studies. I was so thrilled to have all these regular bible studies but tried not to get too excited knowing they could all quit anytime.....Then sadly my favorite one!!!! weirdly decided not to study anymore. :( Which was super sad!! But I am determined to find new ones.

This week is Convention in New Jersey!! YAY. I am so excited, I hear Stanley Theater is amazing. And I can't wait to go to New York, only for a day but it is going to be awesome!!!!! And then there is English convention the next week!

Even more exciting news-In 2 weeks we are having our first CO visit for the group!

Played a surprisingly not so long game of risk last weekend. That game is so addictive and it can keep you up way to late. Me and kathy formed a very secret alliance via text..... hahhaha then we both right after each other turned on our former alliance and yes took over the continents!!! (we would have beat you too....SEAN) P90X cardio is my all time favorite exercise video. The more I do it the more I love it! I just want to be able to finish it sooooo bad!

NEW arcade fire

Wow the new arcade fire album is not like anything else I have heard before. I love all the songs, some of them are so heavy.... Sprawl II- This song reminded so much of driving around the outskirts of San Francisco. And the crazy commuting they do from the suburbs to the city everyday. And the giant bridges that they cross to get from their house to work. And yes, the mountains of malls.
I really like Modern Man, too. It made me think of the internet for some reason. It is so modern but its so intangible that sometime it seems so absurd how much time is spent on it. And I heard that there is this big place where you can turn the off switch and it will shut down all servers. Here today, gone tomorrow.

In line for a number but you don't understand
Like a modern man
In line for a number but you don't understand
Like a modern man

Oh I had a dream I was dreaming
And I feel I'm losing the feeling
Makes me feel like
Like something don't feel right
I erase the number of the modern man
Want to break the mirror of the modern man
Makes me feel like
Makes me feel like

i got it!!!!! for real

I am so excited. I officially got the job as the after school music teacher assistant!! My mom is rather appalled that they would let me assist in teaching! Whatever! I can read the left hand notes and its more like babysitting! They are going to look for schools that are a half an hour away, hopefuly they have some close. I am so excited, such a change of pace, I love little kids! I was so irritated at my boss the other day... oh I just kept praying for self control not to call him a cheap old grump- He literally probably said 5 sentences to me all day- "I need you to work next saturday"-great, then after he makes the wrong drink because he refuses to let me recite the customer's order or write on the cups, he says "she'll come back if she really wants the white mocha"!!! Ahhh. And it hurts to make iced coffee out of days old light roast just because he is so cheap! Then I can't suggest iced coffee throughout the day because I know it is old and watered down when it is usually bold and double brewed and delicious. However, I do really still love my job- its fun when its busy, and its great to get to study when its slow.

This has been a very hot hot hot month. Pas Secret did not play. Because the song we are learning sound like a dying cow. We will, however, practice again soon sometime maybe, ah its a secret.

Travis and Avril are visiting soon!!!!!!!!  AHHHHHH 

I am so excited! I got a job as a music teacher assistant! I haven't officially accepted it, as of yet, but I plan on it. I think it is more like babysitting-after school care, which is good because I don't know how to play the piano, yet they still said I could jump on board!!YEAH. I hope they transfer me to being Ruby's assistant- she is a teacher there. The classes are only one hour a day though! So I'll keep my Barnies job- But they said I could work the days I want- mon tues wed- which is i think will be great because those are the days I work at barnies AM!

Oh my preparing to apply for this nurse program is quite difficult. I can only imagine that a lot of interested people became very not interested after seeing the check list to apply. That's nice, less competition. I bought the official study guide for this entrance test- most boring 60 dollars I have ever spent- But it will be nice not to stress and just read the book and then hopefully pass it! YES!

I'm finally ahead of my service time!!! I only need like 40 hours this month oh it feels so good. 

I inherited an old iphone and it is so addicting- me and nina played scrabble for 4 consecutive days ohhhh she is such good competition, I didn't beat her once-but now I can beat everyone else!!!!!! I really recommend the game words with friends free! It is the best little electronic game!

Sleepy friday...

Soooo I actually heard back from one of these jobs I applied for!- (Not that I don't love Barnie's) And get this to be a cello teacher! ha who knew no certification required! It is an after school music program. I think it would be an awesome job! But I am not sure if its really what I want. It's only for one hour after school everyday- (So I am thinking basically to get 5 hours you have to work 5 days a week- but they do pay a lot better....)And you get to be a cello teacher how awesome would that be- or maybe it would be a bunch of whiny kids ahhhh. Well I have an interview Monday!

I kinda missed the service group this morning.... I just love sleeping in and then drinking delicious half decaf SWC coffee and of course doing some search work. We are not going to Cape Coral as planned any more- scheduling conflicts. I hope we get to go another weekend. There over 70 names on one territory that I haven't even finished searching!

Sooo another sunny day

Oh goodness band practice again was hard. I stink at playing with other people. It is just so hard to stay on beat and know when to play. Meagan's singing sounds really good. And well I guess its coming along nicely the piano and Nina sounds great on the drums. I can't believe she learned to play the drums in like one month! We'll just have to keep practicing regularly, that should do the trick!

My mom went to MA for the weekend and my sister was at work all day and I finally got to rearrange the furniture! Ava gave me a pretty sweet bedroom set, but it just fits so perfectly one way in my room that I can't ever change it! However,  the newly formed angles and the "walls" I made by angling the couches are spectacular!! Oh I love it! Av will be soooo proud of our living room when she comes to visit! It looks like a real living room instead of an oddly shaped, empty, and hard, cold tile feel that it had before! It's amazing how angling a couch a certain way makes such a difference!

I got to work till 3 pm today!! YEAH. My bosses are getting very strange and very skinny!! too much herbalife.

I'm going to try to make a dress! I had never seen dress patterns before I went to jo anns and opened a drawer filled with instructions on how to make practically every kind of dress in the world!!! However, their fabric selection was not so good; it's tricking finding gray and white striped fabric. I might settle for something else but not yet!

Musically sloooow ears

Band practice was rather hard....But we made a lot of progress! Considering we haven't gotten together in like a month! We did OK. I think we were all getting a little frustrated. Sticking to a tempo is so hard for some people-not just you vi. I wanted to slug Ben when he tried to help me play Two Birds- the metronome just wouldn't go slow enough....Non the less his help is MUCH appreciated. But Vi's piano rendition sounded great by the end of the night! And I can't wait to hear Meagan's little angel voice singing along.

Ruby came out in service all Saturday- I love her fresh enthusiasm! We even walked into my study's house and she whispers to me "wow, it smells so good here!" Great! As I gag at the smell of cumin and curry...

here to stay!

 I couldn't do it. I couldn't give Picasso away. His big bored eyes looked up at me friday morning and just cried out "let me stay!!!" Enthusiastic internet guy was nice and said he totally understands what its like to lose a cat. (he lost his cat).....But, Sorry for getting your hopes up buddy!

Ultimate frisbee is awesome! I love it when you run so much that your lungs feel like they work really well. It feels like as much running as soccer but no broken toes!! The weather was disgusting. Rainy, hot, humid sticky, mucky, then you slide all over the grass.  But totally worth it!

This should really go in the cat blog

I finally found the perfect home for Picasso. This genius internet geek guy who rides a bike and lives in a fancy apt by Lake Eola. Yes, I am sure he will love his new home. The guy doesn't even mind that he has is balding on his back! His former cat died of old age and he is very sad from it. Mhmmm great. I think Picasso knows that something is up because he has been ridiculously cute and angelic the past couple of days he actually jumped on my bed and rubbed his nose to my nose the last night! OHH he is so cute. Yet,  I feel like I must give him away to this new home because he does not like my Mom very much and yes, he unfortunately sneaks downstairs to the far distant corner of the house and pees on her bed 3 times. So there was really nothing else I could say but I'll find him a new home..... It is just so hard because he is practically the perfect cat. I went to petsmart to get him flea medicine they said they didn't have Picasso in their computer, but they did have Dandy, Luna, Violette, Katie, Rafi, Mersadies, and Ty AHHHH I feel like an animal killer!!!!!! And my poor mom has put up with sooo many cats and kittens that I snuck in the house or LUNA the rat cat who was shipped here and tied up outside one morning.

Well on a happier note- This was an awesome day in service!! I had two amazing studies. And one of them who I wasn't sure if she really liked studying with me, after we had done one subheading, I was like OK well we can stop here and come back next week. And she was like "No no, I am free." YAY you want to learn more OK!!! But then oh nooo I haven't even prepared or even highlighted the next subheading.....But Meagan and Veeta were awesome! She kept saying stuff I couldn't understand and then saying meaning?? Meagan was awesome explaning! Then Veeta had all the Urdu scriptures ready by the time she finished answering the questions-and scriptures are so hard to find in that Bible! So it's a little annoying that I can't even get 20 hours a week at my job and my boss now takes from the tip jar (seriously!!), BUT is it super getting to go out in service everyday I can't believe how fast the days go by!

Our group is going to do a weekend trip to Cape Coral! I am so excited my first out of town Hindi service adventure, then New York in august for convention! Things I want to do-- eat new york pizza and find a real fake coach bag, someone told me that the central perk coffee shop from friends doesn't exist, so I will have to cross that off. I've been reading the Fountainhead and it is getting me very excited to just walk around and see skyscrapers. Plane tickets were only 205! Not as great as the 203 to SANFRAN, but pretty close!

Well this is Picasso's last day here. Farewell little kitty. Tomorrow night he will be off to Lake Eola.

Thanks for showing me this Kevin!! Hey Marseilles - To Travels and Trunks (Live on KEXP)- these people are geniuses and I will go practice now

THIS WEEKEND YOU CAN GET THERE CD FOR FREE FROM THEIR WEBSITE!

mmmm pancakes

Today was very good. Pumpkin Pancake mix came in the mail as a pleasant surprise! An out of town trader joes treat! The are the best pancakes in the world!! I really do love my Mom's buckwheat pancakes, but these are made with fluffy white flour!! It's like the difference between Ezekiel bread and Sourdough. One is so healthy and made with so much love, but pumpkin pancakes taste like a mixture of Indian Chai tea and pumpkin pie swirlly into a fluffy buttery pancake-Nothing beats it-yes nothing, not even First Watch pancakes. RBC tomorrow. Yay I miss the HVAC crew and especially the cute little Cafecito Lady!


THANK YOU FOR THE PANCAKES JULIA!

PICASSO SAYS

PICASSO
Originally uploaded by Aussiali

"I need a home"

LUNA

Ok i just need to stop doing search work because i don't do it i look at cat pictures! LUNA hah this is the same picture that i hung in the bathroom what a quisidense...i dont know how to spell that one

as I lounge in the ac.....

Hot hot and humid! Florida never fails with its timely weather! It was a nice day in service though- although non of my calls were home but that is OK I will try again tomorrow!  Well, all this talk of exercising and meagan getting up at 5 am to do her gwenyth paltrow dvds I felt like I was majorly falling behind my peers so I got up at, yes at the not extremely early 7 am. I only snoozed for half an hour. P90 X cardio bring it on!! The TV room was not big enough for this intensity. They have you do catch the air basketball, now throw the air basketball for ever then oblique jumping jacks amongst other things.  My face was the color of a tomato lacking oxygen! Ah but it felt amazing especially a cold shower afterwards.

We had band practice the other night, it went well thanks to the fact that we all practically had our own personal coach. Ben helped me and Sophie with our "strings section"(he practically wrote us sheet music! sweet.), Caleb got Nina sounding swell on the drums-very steady beat, and Tom assisted with meagan singing and overall conducting of the song.  We finished half of a Pas secret version of a there is light that never goes out by the smiths. What would we do without them? Probably watch movies. I woke up the next morning feeling beat up from the instrument it was like a musical bootcamp that made my pinky finger want to crack. Sophie is in our band now, too. It is so much fun to play with her beautiful violin playing!

GUESS WHAT??
Vampire Weekend and Beach House  (don't worry they don't sing about vampires and they named themselves before the recent vampire craze) are coming to FL. They sure got popular last time they were here they had a free show now its like 40 bucks. But, well worth it! I am so excited!

summertime just began...a week ago

You betcha it is hot and humid and now raining! The AC broke at work today.....Yikes. I kept telling myself its OK this is what Panama is like, no AC, endure, don't go home, yes! It was insane how many people sat on those couches despite the 91 degree room temperature.

THE NATIONAL is coming to Florida! YAY. And it isn't until October, so lots of time to anticipate this great event! I can't believe the "convenience" charges for these tickets seems rather absurd to me.

What a great day in service! I am so happy I found my bible student at home! It had been a month!! I was beginning to think she must have gone off to India or something....and yes she had been there for 27 days. Getting behind in my time from school this semester was not fun, but it is nice doing practically nothing but going out in service these last couple of week.

I feel like I am slowly getting my power back at my job. I think I might have abused it last time I had it so I will try hard to be discreet this time. Mwhahahahah

at avril and travis's wedding

Tom's EP release! and other things!!!

Tom Moore played his new EP at Stardust Coffee tonight. I was very impressed with the looping of music and such cute lyrics. PLUS Meagan Moore (from Pas Secret) sang towards the end of the set. She did so good. Her voice sounds like a little angel! aww. "I need you in my young days". la la laa la la lah la You can listen to his songs!

Well, as of today PAS SECRET plans on opening for Tom Moore's show at Austin's Coffee house on July 24th. And as of recent we might have a new band member.... I love recruiting people. We have lots of work, but love the pressure of a show to make us jam our clashing schedules together!

Such an awesome day in service. It was so HOT. But I finally found this lead for an interested Hindi family in a gated community and someone finally got so annoyed with me punching the directory numbers that they let us in!!!! I met the nicest family from South India, a place called Kerala. Persistence pays off!

Our dog is so cute. After having him for years he just learned how to go up the stairs- but we don't really want him up here. So he gets stuck at the top of the stairs because he is too afraid to go down. I think he likes to hang out with cat even though there is a glass door. I am trying to find a home my cat. :( IF ANYONE WANTS A REALLY CUTE CAT let me know. He is declawed though so he has to stay inside. (I was not the one who handicapped him-but it is actually kind of nice he won't put hole in your couch)

WOW so I finally looked this up new sampler album from amazon-!!!! and it looks really good you get a a whole big cd for free! I'm downloading it now I think its new music!Digital Bang: The 2010 Sub Pop Sampler For Amazon

FRIDAY! is a great day!

Oh avril, mi hermana.

Imhansiemhonehi - now that's a long name. Me and kathy did search work till 10 o clock! Phew. It's about time I get some territory to do!

2 days of working with my boss! Lovely......but no! One more day.

I MISS YOU VIOLETTE.

I must be on time tomorrow. Although, I was only 6 minutes late today. And my boss takes over anything I find to do at work before I get to do. For example, (I feel so guilty reading my magazine when I know he can see me) So I found these really cool posters that "corporate" sent us of this new Hawaiian HAzelnut Coffee and they come with frames! So I set them all out on the floor and started figuring out how to put them in these frames- But then we get a customer- as I am making the drink, I look over and my boss was doing it- taking over the project. By the time I was done making the drink, my boss was back to youtube watching Korean futball, the framing was finished and they were leaned against the counter top, my idea, because apparently we are not allowed to put holes in the wall. And the herbalife products, which are number one ingredient- soy, products right in front of the pretty posters)  OHH maybe that's why he is so grumpy: all the powdery soy products!

Clove oil- I should have guessed

Talk about boringest weekend ever! I thought silly wisdom teeth soreness was supposed to go away in two days. But, no, day four and the throbbing pain in my lower right jaw was excruciating. The pain pills just made me sob- nonstop- I couldn't tell if I was crying because my tooth hurt or my face hurt from crying. I called the surgeon Saturday night and he told me that I probably had something called a dry socket. Which is when the blood clot either doesn't form or gets spit out. I went there today and he stuck little pieces of gauze that had been drenched with clove oil inside of the holes in my mouth.. Oh and the relief! It feels so amazing. My mom gave me a whole bottle of clove oil and I just keep rubbing it all over my gums!

wisdom teeth out!

It is the weirdest procedure! You can't eat or drink for 6 hours before! Starving. I was so scared- They make you squeeze a happy face ball; then they stick a needle in your arm, which is very quick, but hurts. Once they did that I couldn't hold back tears anymore. I started balling! But then all I remember is tears turning into laughing. It is so strange then waking up and you can't remember anything! I kept laughing then crying and back and forth. Then they send you out the back door. It sure was eventful. My cheeks aren't even puffy- I was hoping for some chipmunk cheeks oh well. My mom was so nice, I kept telling her she didn't have to stay with me and I was fine. But I am so glad she did- the numbness wore off and she gave me painpills and then she even spoon fed me a smoothie. (all I could think about prior to the surgery was how I was going to eat so much after because I was so hungry, but then i couldnt even get the food in my mouth) Pain pills are so weird my head keeps swaying back and forth.....

Hindi group is growing

We had 62 or 63 at our meeting today! So exciting. And a Brother from New Jersey gave the talk. He is a very good speaker. (He can speak Urdu) He spoke clearly and didn't use to many big words. This was the first time I actually followed the talk from beginning to end. (of course more than half the words I didn't know, but the general subject of about every 5 sentences I got!!) I am sure the visitors must have enjoyed it. Soo exciting seeing so many people come.

I am looking forward to this awesome Florida talent performing tonight at Tatame! The Phlauds will be performing along with new special guests!

Pas Secret (pas de secret...) has an almost official practice time so we'll be playing again hahaa someday...

Fitness magazine has an article 6 wks to a 5k!! I almost completed wk 1. (hehe a 5k is only 3 and a little miles- but it sure sounds intense!!) At first I couldn't believe how much they make you walk-- but whatever...you actually read a book while doing it!

oh my oh my!

1 of the 4 employees at my work quit today with no 2 wks notice. Then the other one decides not to come to work. My boss yells "alice, tif no more work saturday, you work saturday now." ahhh "i'll see if I have any openings in my schedule, gotta go its 10:32," and I ran out the door! If he would just ask nicely one would be so much more inclined to want help him. But the provoking with fear- that is what makes me turn off my phone to ignore your trying to make me feel guilty. I do feel bad, but I also need like 30 hours in field service time this weekend. Service group will not be breaking there that's for sure. Ah what  a sad coffee place.


Went out in service after work- turned into a long day! It is so nice having a big group!

Ahhh Wisdom teeth removal-I rescheduled the appointment too many times. But they do really start to nag. A happy start to June....

I have a feeling Vi is leaving her most loved Coffee shop job. I am going to miss her. Aww. No more hard boiled eggs and 5:30am wake up calls. ohh and the 7:30 am naps...Back to working with the ever so hard working boss. He just called me and asked if the cooler was called a refrigerator- correct. Well it was fun while it lasted vi.

Been making an effort to respect copyrighted music. It's really hard- I have hardly known anything besides all these random "free" downloads. But hey guess I will now really appreciate the CDs I get!

Rockin' the Crocs

Crocs are the most amazing shoes ever! I had been excessively borrowing Nina's and wearing them to work, that it was about time I get a pair. They came out with this new crocband flat that looks like a ballet flat/sneaker. They sell them at Journey's. They are so cute and they are so comfortable. PLUS they are antimicrobial (and erogonomatic-someone told me that meant good for the spine.) So they won't smell bad! Now all my other shoes feel like standing on cement. I got a pair for my mom off ebay, from China, for half the price. I hope they come...

mariachi band- AWESOME wedding

farewell Latifah. Pas Secret debut

quite a bit of stripes...hmm

Alligator

Oh my today me and Nina saw an alligator at the park! So crazy. We were like, hmmm, 15 feet away. We starred at this thing that looked like an alligator head (or possibly a tree root) for like 10 solid minutes to see if it would move, but it didn't! Then we told some other lake observers about it and they were like yeah its an alligator... 2 minutes later...no its not an alligator it doesn't move. Then they got really close and you could see, its now clearly defined, big round eyeballs and the tip of its nose slowly descend into the dark lake. It was so scary.... I wish I got a picture.

herbalife anyone

My boss is so unique. He is trying to sell all the regular customers this protein herbalife powder which he swears by- by telling them they need to lose weight. It is really bizzare. This one customer was like "are you calling me fat?" then my boss was like "no, no maybe for your wife! you could save money because you won't need to buy meat and you won't be hungry after you eat this." I don't even think this is like a money scam; I think he just genuinely believes this is the best powder ever and wants everyone to have. Well it was an interesting morning to say the least.

My car got fixed! I got the tires rotated today and apparently it no longer needs an alignment. YAY

Modesto......

After being lazy bums and sleeping in and watching cable-cable is sooo addictive- TV till 3pm, we biked like 9 miles! It was so much fun. There are such pretty trails. This one trail there was seriously a 5 foot dip, but I went around it because it looked too scary. Then we took a break and started making a dam over this river. (like the kind beavers make). Once when me and Avril were on a trail in Alaska we found all these precut logs; We were pretty sure that a beaver had cut them. Then we started piling the logs so we could walk across, it is so much fun, we did it for hours!

There is a Punjabi Group 5 minutes walking distance from their home here. I went there yesterday but they had there assembly this week so they weren't there. But the Kingdom hall doors were unlocked so I got to go in and I found a stack of Punjabi tracts. Well I gotta go hehe movies on cable tv....

at the mall!!!! in CALIFORNIA...stone ridge to be precise

CITY

San Francisco has been such a blast! It is such a beautiful city. I love all the hills and at night the lights. Apparently this famous graphic artist was here a few days ago and put random drawings all of over the city-I guess its a pretty big deal here. We went with people from the hall to search for them. The Kingdom halls are so tiny here. It is like the size of 1/10 of the one in Florida. There are so many things to do here! I want to just sit and read a book in the perfect weather park, but I have a whole list of must do things.

My cousin and her family are very nice and they all just went out of town so we have the whole house to ourselves. Except they have so many animals. I love animals, but these animals are a lot of work. We have to walk the dogs and then they pooped on the carpet...yuck..and then the poor cat has a thyroid problem so I have to wrap its little thyroid pills inside of this rochetta meat paste twice a day. I like the fish all it needs is 1/4 of a tablespoon of food in am and pm. I hope the cat is okay because it only ate its thyroid medicine paste twice since I've been here. Oh and they have this other cat.... Sumo kitty! He is huge! and black and won't budge. He acts like he owns the place. We tried to get him to move off the bed and eventually after him batting at the pillow we used to push him, got him off. But then he just sits there meowing and batting his tail back and forth that we are so afraid he is going to pounce on us and attack our heads! it is so scary.....

There is such a beautiful view outside of the window here. It is of the city and all the lights and hills. WOW what a lower body work out these hills are. Goodness getting the luggage up the hill was insane!!! I love being able to walk places and not have to drive a car. It is a nice change.

YES

AHHH I am sooo happy I just finished my last online exam!! YES! School is great and all but these classes were more about just keeping an A for nursing program requirements instead of actually learning. So I am so glad they are over. What a relief. Now for enjoying the outdoors....

Tifah is going on a big adventure. Oh Tifah....you will be missed so much! But we can follow her!

Planning SF!

This is the first time I actually planned a trip instead of just going. I love the guidebook I got at the library. Unfortunately, my cousin's house is right outside of the bottom of the map... I am really excited to bike across the bridge. The guide book tells you everything- where to get the cheapest bike, which museum to stop at-which just so happens to be the free day at the Exploratorium on Wednesday, the best coffee place, if your tired take the ferry back. And with my Bank Of America check card I can get into 4 different museums for free; I actually don't mind my bank anymore. However, do beware of them, a friend of mine who has a high position job with them said she doesn't even bank with them for several reasons...

When me and Sophie went to Europe it was so awesome- I got into all the museums for free and the subway was only a dollar a day, 0r 2- because I was under 18. But now I understand why Sophie wanted to walk everywhere!

Past secret!!! and the wonders of TAZO TEA!

Earl grey tea is soooo delicious with honey and milk but I will make a mental note not to drink it after the afternoon time. I was up till like 12:30 and then i woke up before my alarm at 4:30am! Crazy..That has never happened before! The first few hours of work flew by, I have never been that chipper with the customers ever! Then my heart started making weird pounding sounds--yes I think I have a super sensitivity to caffeine or that tea was just the strongest most delicious TAZO experience ever!

Well, since the band is out of the bag I guess... oh just one of those past secrets....music practice went a lot better tonight! Nobody stormed out- helps when we are all there for the most part, especially Meagan because she makes us all be nicer. I think we are just going to put this more elaborate song we have on the back burner for now...

I love this hindi word लाजावाब(lajavab) I think I spelt it right-it means so amazing it leaves you full of questions! That's how the translate English -wonderful.

Ohhhhh! My mom's dinner is the best thing in the world! I am always amazed! She gets better everytime she makes something. Today she made fried catfish sandwiches. This is worth remembering....

1. marinate catfish in ziplock bag with half a lemon, salt and pepper,
2. have a bowl with flour and cajan spices which you dip the fish in
3. have a bowl with a whipped egg that you dip the fish in
4. have a bowl with japanese bread crumbs aka pankos ( i think that's the name)
-Then you fry it with a little canola oil.

In the sandwich (on delicious fluffy white grainy bread from publix) she has marinated artichoke hearts, tomatoes, ketchup, and Dijon mustard with horseradish.

I just love a good schedule!

This has been the most productive week for me in like the whole month! It feels so good to get so much done and to be able to check it off! And the weather is so amazing! I feel like we haven't had weather this nice in such long time...Guess it would be good not to get too accustomed to it, knowing it will be 95 and humid soon enough! Hard to believe it's lasting this long. I love it! Meagan and I going to invite our bible students over for dinner next month; I hope they come! They are just the nicest people!

I keeping thinking about how interesting it must be to my dad... First he sees the service group meet for service at our house and he sits in on the meeting and pretends to read his bible! Then he randomly attends a meeting and goes to hospitality and eats lamb. Now he'll get to see all these Urdu speakers come to dinner! Granted he's a unique guy--showing off his wood collection and random demolition finds, but this has got to be very interesting to him. "Yeah dad this is what we do all day; hang out with foreigners" and say Bahut accha-very good- way toooo much! gotta expand on the vocab!- Well he can pretend to know his bible as much as he wants-- because they won't understand a word.

Oy my despite how awesome this schedule, I am more than ready for the part where finishing these classes is over. I've been doing 1 ch. of medical terminolgy and 2 chapters of Anatomy everyday to be finished with homework by monday! Then its just coasting one more week! AHHH

I am so excited!!!

SAN FRANCISCO! I was so worried that my great cousin didn't want us to stay with her anymore because there are 3 of us...instead of one (like I would travel alone hah). But I called her again and told her we were just going to find somewhere else and that hostels really weren't that bad and I think she felt pity and said we can come stay with her...as long as we bring sleeping bags...because there are plenty of rooms but not enough beds! Yes! I am getting a travel book at the library tomorrow! Oh I can't wait! Just 2 more weeks of school! Oh the possibilities and so much anatomy coloring to do till then. Me and Nina beaner both have talks tomorrow!

Kale=brain food. Feel so healthy after eating a whole pot of it... oh and hopefully it will make stupid pimples go away!

Greeks know how to eat

Greek yogurt is amazing! It is so delicious and creamy and rich! It taste like tiramasu but for breakfast! And it is so good for you. It has double the protein of normal yogurt. And if you eat 4 ounces a day it can help prevent colds. Something about supporting T cell production.... In fitness magazine there was a three page article on it. I tried the Cabot brand Vanilla Bean flavor. You can get a big container of it for $4! 5 ways to eat Greek yogurt

I also tried Goats Yogurt... eh not my forte, smelled too much like goat cheese, a little overwhelming.

Why did my classes have to get so hard! I just found out I was apparently supposed to be doing this coloring book for AP class the whole semester...which means I am very behind. I really think that was not in the syllabus and will have to look into that...I need to make a good to do list otherwise I will get very distracted. I like school but gosh AP deserves a real teacher! just 27 more days of this online class! Have to get back to studying!


P90x is sooo addictive. HIGHLY reccomend the youtube videos.(ab ripper x) I finally did the whole thing without pausing the video! Avril you are the best competition! hahaha

I love studying with coffee!! The new she and him album is just as cute as the first.

I finally got my first free fitness magazine in the mail and it has 7 dinner recipes(mon through sun) They even give you a little shopping list. I made the first one today. it was okay... these potaotos that were supposed to take 20 minutes took like 45 minutes to cook and... i just don't like sweet potatos. a little disappointing. hopefully it will get better...after a whole week!

This was such an awesome weekend! The couple I study with came to their first meeting! They are just the nicest people ever. Apparently they made a day trip out of it.. they went to the beach in the morning then the meeting! They are so fun! and they really liked the meeting. I am going to sleep!

Wednesday my mom came into my work and started crying... saying her youngest daughter is all grown up... and then she came walked behind the coffee shop counter and hugged me while I was making peoples drinks! It was so embarrassing! But, she is so nice! Aw.

Poll: Who should play at Rock The Ark?

Poll: Who should play at Rock The Ark?

Vote for the electric!!! So abbys band can win!!!

WOW SUNDAY

My mom made the best of the best dinner yesterday. Sophie and Caleb better feel pretty special!

Three different kinds of fish-it was a fish sampling day.... Fresh tuna, one that was breaded, and another white one.

A huge bowl of soba noodles with scalions!
I huge salad with kale and those cruchy white things usually in vietnamese food and sesame seeds.
and then this delicious cucumber salad with honey! and then to top it she made tempura onions with this amazing ginger soy sauce with cayenne pepper!!!

She is an amazing cook!

Oh procrastination.... 2 more months and no more dreaded assignments! Must do homework before an hour before its due.

So I borrowed and Urdu Bible and showed this couple I study with! At first it was sooo hard because the english speaking husband wasn't there and I thought I had marked a scripture, but turns out I marked the right verse, but wrong book! And why does their number system have to be so weird! I think they don't even understand urdu numbers. Thank goodness the husband came and figured out how to find scriptures! Otherwise that poor lady would have been so confused. Despite the lame language barrier, it was such an awesome study because they finally got to read scriptures! They wanted to keep the Bible, but I told they have to wait till theirs comes. Their kids are so adorable! However, they used to be so quiet and afraid (which was kind of a nice quality) but now they are loud and want to play all the time!

So Far Around the Bend

work today

So my boss has been complaining about the work schedule ever since i said i can't work sundays--meeting change--. I used to feel like i had power at my job..not anymore. He really wants me there sunday to the point where I think he will fire me all the other days just so in a desperate attempt i say I'll work Sunday. Not going to happen mister. SO today I decided running away from him at the end of all my shifts was not going to work anymore. Instead I made like 3 possible perfect schedules for all the employees. Wel. Hope it works. at least he'll know i am a "team player"!

AHHHH stupid car!

It is amazing how you can get to all these places all over with carpooling... yet i still hate it! I want my car so bad!!

(Last week some neighbor of mine with no license or insurance ran a stop sign and hit and run my car. She didnt run far though enough though..)

I was all excited to ride my bike home tomorrow from work.. i told the sister who was going to pick me she didn't have to! i made a playlist for my ipod! THen i came home and was looking all over the for my bike! no where to be found. It turns out my Dad decided to disassemble in an effort to make it go faster...apparently he has been using it without my permisison... lost a part and it was still in pieces in the shed! ahhhhh that was just the icing on the cake! I feel so unindependent now......... But until then I really incredibly appreciate all the rides people have been giving me it is super nice.

recipe

so sore

Me and Vi had an amazing workout with the Fitness magazine and resistance bands. I highly recommend them for a good challenge. There was this one exercise where you had to wrap the band around your feet and then to your hands and try to get into a push up position...then to proceed with the exercise. It was so hard to stretch that thing to get your hands out just a little bit away from your feet. VERY CHALLENGING!

Febuary is such a short month!

glued to my book just a little

Soooo I need to get out of the house. You can really only sit in the same spot for so long before you find something to to do besides never ending schoolwork! I want it to be spring break already...... two more weeks!!!

this movie is so awesome. clip here..
http://imaginarydeadline.blogspot.com/2009/11/if-what-i-think-is-happening-is.html

school is taking over my weekend!

I am very much not liking this A and P book. It is taking over my weekend with very hard words!!!! And I feel like a computer nerd because it is online. And I didn't get to play soccer because I had to do a quiz! This stinks. Never take online classes. KEYNOTE: It would have been worth it to stalk students and make them drop out so I could have their spot in the classroom. HA.

Well, on the upside I had such an awesome call today with a muslim family. I love them so much. They have the cutest children and they are just the sweetest most respectful couple. And they evenly correct all my messy Hindi, but they do it in such a nice way that you don't feel stupid.

ohh blogging instead of homework again

Vi and I had such an amazing work out today! Lake Mills exercise trail and then pilates by the lake. That place is beautiful and empty. So nice to be out doors and moving. Well back to the A and P class for me. It was fun the first month but now its beginning to be hard to find the motivation to do it. College classes are nice that they are such short semesters though. I had such a wonderful study with a Bengali girl last weekend. It is amazing the culture shock these girls face going from being princess in Bangladesh to being hard working americans!

ohhhh get this... my dad heard the service group was meeting at my house, bought a chunck of lamb to feed the indian service group lunch on saturday. very hospitable of him, yet so random. He is turning into quite the chef. This morning it was lentil soup and rice.

insane cat

OMG my cat has gone psycho. not only has he licked all of his fur, off well not all of it but a few chuncks, but not he stares at me from the corner of my room and then we make eye contact and than he bam jumps up on my desk and scatters all my index cards everywhere. It was so deliberate and I know he just wants more food. But no normal lazy indoor cat needs 2 bowls of food a day. Ohhh my, I fed him anyways, it has been exceptionally cold lately.

Now he just stares at me while licking his lips. This is getting so strange.

Suriname

Picasso on his little perch

cello in this song is wonderful

Cutie Penguins at the Shedd Aquarium

Cutie Penguins at the Shedd Aquarium
Originally uploaded by Aussiali

I love these guys!

So Picasso, my cat, started losing patches of fur on his back it is so sad, but the front of him like his neck is super thick fur! So strange. Hopefully this fancy cat food will help him.

HELLO

WE got the living room all painted! It is actually very exciting no more weird ceiling with permanent cobwebs ahh. It is green and yellow now and no cobwebs!

YAY!!