krispy kreme is here!!!!

tonight, i got home from english tea time and right after i walked in, there was a ring at my door... my friend stopped by to drop something off.... and it was...... A DOZEN KRISPY KREME DOUGHNUTS!!!!!!! ah!

To understand the excitement, first remember that I have only had a doughnut once since I got here almost a year ago.... and that was at the London airport in March... not SUPER fresh, free, and at my DOOR! and... there has been talk about a Krispy Kreme opening up since before I got here, so i wouldn't have been surprised at all if they never opened here...

My friend and her roommates got invited to the VIP pre-opening party (suits/ties/dresses and all)... where they got to eat all they wanted and have all the coffee/lattes they wanted for free and were given 2 dozen on the way out the door... so, it was super kind of her to bring me and April a whole dozen of delicious awesomeness to our door.... April and I split two--chocolate dream and caramel dream....and about 45 minutes later could not resist the temptation anymore and each went back to eat a glazed one.. YUM YUM YUM!

i figure the 45 minutes or so it takes to walk there and the 45 back will work off my donut or two when i go there.. :)

taco night! success

tonight was a lot of fun.. april and i had some girls over for a taco night... we had a taco night once before and this one was definitely more successful for us! we had tacos, chicken chimichangas, home fried tortilla chips, a peach cake, velveta queso dip!!!, and a pound cake... whew.. it was a feast!

the best part was the girls that came... there were three from english tea time and one of our neighbors... *Chloe, our neighbor, was the first Turk we met here, and a very kind girl just a year older than us... she had a lot of boy problems, a busy job, etc. so hanging out with her has been impossible.. so we were thrilled she came tonight.. two of the other 3 girls are my closest non-American friends here, *Natalie and *Emma... so it was great that they could both come.. we also had a couple of american girls here... so it was a full table of 8... fun times..

politics, blah!

generally, i really could care less about politics... i know, i know.. i should...but i don't. i don't follow policies or candidates or anything really...

but...

Memphis's ex-mayor... seriously????!?!?!? ah, GO AWAY! & stay there!

http://www.wmctv.com/global/story.asp?s=10933510

what was.

when i came here, i didn't think I would be giving up much... when I got here, it took me less than 10 hours to ask myself "what in the world have i gotten myself into? and i can take my unpacked bags back to the airport right now"...but even then i didn't have a deep sense of loss or sacrifice..

6 months or so after i got here, my sister had a baby,,, i wished I could be there and i had a twinge of some sort of regret, but i still didn't think it would affect me much... but when i saw him on video in the hospital and it hit me that I was not there at all for it and I would not get to hold him... that hit me in a new way...

today i have been thinking about loss. coming here, i lost what was. some things will be the same. but they won't. people move on. their lives continue with or without me being a part of it. i miss what was even though i am content with what is. ah, life.

year in review...

last week was a year...
me and the 4 people i headed over here with celebrated this past weekend.
by going to get bacon cheddar cheeseburgers..yum, yum...
bacon is a rarity here in a 99% muslim place. .
_______________
looking back, it seems crazy to think that a year ago, i got to VA to train & prepare to live here for 2 yrs. I have lived herealmost 10 months. Here are some highlights of my year, to catch you up (or refresh your memory)...

AUTUMN:
After 2 months of training, i headed home for a very quick 2 week interval to wrap things up and say final goodbyes... i arrived in my city in mid-october, greeted by very joyful teammates and lots of fresh fruit/veggies.. the first night, i had a moment of panic, wondering what i had gotten myself into..... but G is sovereign & i knew He had called me here... i started language class, painting, and making myself at home in this strange place... :) In November, I started to get involved with English Tea Time and made my first friend, Natalie, who is very much a seeker and is my closest friend here.It took me a month to really make one friend, and she is a great one... I celebrated thanksgiving with my new friends here..Most of my time was spent hanging out with friends I had made at ETT, studdying the language, and trying to get out and use it when I could...

WINTER:
winter here means a LOT of rain.. at christmas I had rain boots sent to me from the states, which I wore every single day, and which now have holes in them...it was dark and rainy a lot of the time, which meant a lot of being inside and catching up on the Office and AI...
There were a lot of Christmas parties, and I had my FIRST visitor--Lindsay!! we had a fun christmas, followed by a trip to ski/snowboard...my first trip out of the city at all.. we had our first vol group (as a univ. team) come, an awesome high school group... I also started going once or twice a month to help watch/homeschool a family near the city I live in...Winter was challenging because of all the rain, but a lot of fun, too...

SPRING:
by the time spring rolled around, i was more than ready for some sunshine.the first sunny day, i remember sitting on rocks near the water in tears.i needed the sunshine. i also discovered the beautiful tulips that surround the city in early April..breath-taking.
In early March, University of Memphis (my univ). sent a group for spring break, much to my excitement..which also came with a suitcase of goodies from home (bacon bits, brownie mixes, mousse, dove chocolate, etc).i went to ephesus, cappadocia, london,& antalya.
my twin sis had a beuatiful baby boy on april 23, who i will meet in a few weeks.
we had an ISP team come for 3 weeks followed by the arrival of the 5 week long ACTS students.
Spring time meant a great change of pace in my schedule and the ending of my lang. classes.& the arrival of a new couple on our team!

SUMMER:
the month of june was pretty much spent with the ACTS team and our awesome summer intern.that kept me busy every day. i also went to the island twice--to help set up and teach english! i got a new roomie for a couple of months, turned 24, and experienced my first mass exodus of both city residents (for the summer) & team members (for good)... i also had more visitors: joseph and the weavers, and several other people i know from my time in VA training... i had more opportunities to share Truth, more conversations, and new friendships...