Rocky

Today is the day that I will be heading out! Please do remember us in your prayers for traveling mercies and that we will be powerful and effective! It is very strange going from blogging every day to not having internet at all. So as far as my blog goes, I will be falling off the face of the earth with no contact for 16 days. Peace and love be with you!

Tomorrow is D day. I will officially be heading out towards Haiti. I won't actually be in Haiti until Thursday though because I have a layover in Miami over night. Luckily this time I will be staying in a hotel unlike last June when Alicia and I stayed in the airport over night (I don't advise that for anyone, ever, worst night ever.) I am packed and ready to go. I feel that I am forgetting something. Obviously I don't know what that is. I just feel that once I get there I will have this "Ah ha" moment and it will put me in some sort of predicament or I will have to rely on someone else. So I am hoping it is just my overly paranoid personality taking over again, instead of reality. I have these stupid little reminder notes all over reminding me to grab things that I can't pack yet because I will use them in the morning like my cell phone that is charging and face wash. I stick everything I can't pack yet in very prominent areas too and by other things I d...

TWO days! Two days and I will be headed towards my home away from home. Just have a few last minute things to accomplish and a few people to visit and I will be ready to roll. Following church this morning, I had lunch and saw "The A-team" with my dad. I have never really watched the 1980's show of The A-Team before. I really enjoyed it! Great action scenes with a sense of humor and some unexpected twists. Also I love that Liam Neeson's character would be making a plan and explaining it to the team and as he was explaining it the plan would be played out with his explanation as a narration. Great touch. I saw another 1980's classic this weekend, I saw Karate Kid with my momma. Really it should have been Kung Fu Kid because he was in China learning Kung Fu but whatev. I think as long as you are not constantly comparing it to the original Karate Kid, it was pretty good. I feel it gave a little nod towards the original and certain elements were present but wasn'...

Bon Soir! I am trying to brush up on my French before I head off. I really wish I could take language courses in French again. What I really wish is that I could put a computer chip in the back of my brain and download all the world's languages. Tout bon! Though since that is impossible (or just not available to me) then I must hit the books. I feel as if I have accomplished so much today. I have been up for 12 hours officially and it is only 4pm. Needless to say I did make it to the dentist office where they were having the Dentist from the Heart free clinic event. I had a tooth worked on. Even though needles and drills were involved I didn't have hardly any pain. There was a DJ at this event, plus all sorts of snacks, prizes and free tee shirts. It was great, I was saving money, saving a tooth and getting free things. All and all it was completely worth sacrificing a few hours of sleep on a Saturday morning. I finished reading my book today. I worked on the XA brochure. I wat...

I cannot believe it is just 4 more days. I started packing last night and it feels more real that I will be heading out soon. Sometimes you talk about something for so long that it doesn't really sink in until you are 3 days into the trip. In preparation for the trip I have been asking around if anyone knows of any kid's games that don't take a lot of talking or equipment. So any ideas you have would be great! I woke up this morning and my arm looked worse than yesterday and since I am headed out of the country in just a few days I was advised by several people to go see a doctor. So I jotted in to see the doctor and she prescribed me a couple of antibiotics. I am supposed to visit on Monday to see what my culture (same spelling? not sure.) results are. Tomorrow morning Dentistry from the Heart is offering free dental work. If you remember, I tried getting work done at their last event and never ended up seeing anyone. After waiting in line for hours, receiving a number, wa...

I cannot believe how fast this week is going. I have been completely swamped with things to accomplish before we head out. Time is tight, money is tight and my brain is going to give way. Last night we had our Haiti free throw shoot off fundraiser. Priscilla and Autumn and our wonderful rebounders worked very hard! 30 minutes of constant basketball shooting. That looked rough! Though combined there were more than 300 shots made! I am so proud of them. Oh, and last night the Merrell's lent me their suitcases to take to Haiti again! So I will be able to pack tonight sometime. Woot woot! On a different and weird note, this morning I woke up to my outer upper (tricep area) right arm hurting like there was a pinched nerve or something. It was strange though because through out the day it would feel like a sharp pain and then it would feel numb. Almost like when you hit your elbow really hard and it feels kind of numb-ish mixed with sharp pain. Well then I realized I have a red bump on ...

6 days until Haiti Time! Woot woot! With everything being just around the corner, some Haiti donations have been brought in to my church for me to bring. I decided to go through some of the bags today and I just smiled at some of the things that were brought. Things like shower curtain rings, a singular balloon, used color sheets... I think it is cute how people try to help out sometimes even if it isn't as conventional. Among the objects brought in, was this long women's silk scarf. It's strange or unique rather, it seems to be a "fancy" women's scarf and then on further inspection it has the funniest pattern. I scanned it in for you to see for yourself. It reminds me of the time I was shopping at Walmart and had to wait on a prescription or something so I decided to look at their clothing section. I found a paisley shirt that I actually liked but there was something off about it but I couldn't put a finger on what it was. After looking closely I realized...

That is right...in 7 days ( I am not good at counting down, the concept is murky... do I count today, the day of, both, neither? Though since I will be headed out on Tuesday next week I think it is considered 7 days) I will be headed to Fond Doux, Haiti! I will also be reunited with my friends from LA and my friend from Vermont! I am jittery with excitement! Things I need to do before I go. Work/Missions: -Finish XA UCLA tee shirt design -Finish XA UCLA brochure -Work on and possibly finish XA UMKC brochure -Work on P.Bill's XA brochure -Make this week's bulletin and work on next 2 weeks' bulletins for Kim -Write next wave of support letters -Meet with friends about support -Make calls Trip Related: -Buy:sun block, water bottle, bug spray, shampoo/ conditioner, socks and snacks -Finish collecting things for the children's home (hint: if you want to donate to the Royal Palm Children's Home, I need foods, medical supplies, small toys and school supplies) -Pack Aw, I f...

8 days from now I will be on my way to Fond Doux, Haiti yet again. The anticipation and excitement is climbing and I am definitely stoked! I will soon be reunited with my Haitian babies and can't wait for the hugs, games and services! This weekend has been a packed one. Thursday I spent the evening with our twentysomethings at the park, playing disc golf, playing with Magazine (also known as Maggie) and hiking around the lake. Friday was First Friday so we walked around the Crossroads Art District. I love the jazz music they play outside of Birdies. They play a sax, an organ and drums. Saturday morning was City Market again, then Jordan's gorgeous wedding and then I spent the remainder of the evening with Jori (in person due to the fact that she was in town)! Sunday morning I spoke to my church congregation to cast my vision for my future ministry in LA. Later that night my little sister was crowned an honor Friend through the Mpact Girl's ministry which is a big deal an...

Val and I tried to hit up the Memorial Day weekend sales at the mall, but to no avail. We do have this fun photobooth photo to show for it. Neither one of us like the first picture so much. I spent my Saturday morning at the Kansas City Market. When we returned we were so tired that we decided to take naps instead of go see the big hot air balloon ascension that night. We decided it would be better to go Sunday night instead. The only problem is that the weather turned bad the second we arrived and the canceled the launch. So our hour long drive was in vain. See below picture that was taken from the car window as we drove away. Normally I am a fan of rain, lightening and thunder, though not in this case. Here is my Memorial day dinner. Surf and Turf, steamed vegetables, salad and rice pilaf. Love leftovers. Oh and lastly, I have been meaning to share with you our parakeets. We had 4 parakeets. Then two got married. So now we have 7 parakeets. I am holding the three babies in this pict...