you spike my blood.

'i blog much better when things are going well. i blog a lot however, when things are going incredibly horrible too soo.... anyways, when i say i blog "better"... lets not get carried away. i still spell things wrong and never use caps and often use incorrect punctuation. but i have more things to talk about when things are swell. so let my babbling begin...

hmm... where TO begin [ha! used the caps there...making progress]

well i went camping recently. it was my "big" vacation from work and life. and by big, i mean i took one day off of work. it was well worth it though. i spent 3 solid days with some of my greatest friends. i didnt shower the entire weekend [yes, gross, but i was one with nature. leave it alone.] we had camp fires every night. ate too much food. played a lot of bocce ball and swam in the lake. our lot was massive. we could have held an entire family reunion. okay not really, but it was nice and spacious. the weather was perfect. blue skies, the sun beaming down and a slight breeze. perfect jeans and tank weather. mmmm! [picture me being italian right there and kissing my fingers saying "perfecto!" - that might be spanish... oh well. huh?]

it was great because i got to spend 3 solid days with marshall before she leaves for 8 MONTHS [caps again. nice.] and i got to see my beloved heather [aka P.] i never get to see her sweet face anymore, now that we are "adults". lame. i hate everything about THAT. i see her about every 5 months and it always seems so rushed. but this weekend we were able to just be. loved every second of it.

marshall leaves for haiti on tuesday. im so excited for her. im jealous and anxious for her. i cant wait for her to come back though. a part of me already misses her. man. so bitter sweet. the Lord will rock her work though and that my friends, is totally awesome.

okay so i do in fact have a fantastic thing going with a young gentleman. and when i say gentleman, i truly mean gentleman. i am blown away by how awesome he is and how great he treats me. i [already] am incredibly thankful for him and his friendship within our relationship. of course i am thankful for his good looks too ;)

i was honored to be able to spend an entire 4 day weekend with him. meeting parents and friends and family. we covered some good ground over the long weekend. lots of driving, which was fun. we attempted to watch the sunset in GH on sunday, but it was chilly, windy and cloudy and all so perfect in ever respect.

i am going to continue to gloat about him because i can. because he makes me very happy. so here are the reasons i enjoy being with him:

1. he loves God. 
2. he goes to church with me.
3. he makes me laugh.
4. he hugs me. a lot.
5. he tells me i am cute.
6. he picks me up. [not physically. like in a car. for dates and such.]
7. he opens doors.
8. he doesnt use foul language.
9. he shows me respect.
10. he doesnt like mushrooms. 
11. he doesnt like the nasty snot-like junk in tomatoes.
12. he can cook. 
13. we can sit without talking and its okay.
14. being with him is stress free.
15. he kisses my forehead.
16. he prays before we eat.
17. he has a fascinating job.
18. he loves the water.
19. he is patient with my long-detailed stories.
20. he is adventurous. 
21. i trust him.

i find #1 and #21 to be vital. i am just very excited to be able to say those two things about him. 

on another note, ESL is coming up quick. kicking off the regular season of monday night classes teaching english to some precious internationals. i just find it really great how God surprises me with this. see for the longest time, my heart and passion was for Africa. primarily Sudan and Uganda. if i could go back, i would. i would stay much longer at that. if i could interact with anyone from another country, i would sit and talk [but mainly listen] for hours with someone from Africa. i had little passion for any other country or culture or continent for that matter. i wasnt too interested in getting to know any culture related to India. it just wasnt of interest. my heart was in Africa. 

okay keep that thought.

now, for my occupation, i was business, marketing, advertising, etc. i saw the world in color and graphics. teaching was not in my cards. my cousins...teachers. my sister....teacher. me....business. not teaching. ever. 

so what did God deal me this round of the card game? a full house of teaching english to Bhutanese and Nepalese refugees. isn't He funny?! i love it! i am very excited to be working with mar and some of the other tutors in kicking off our new class. i cannot wait. it starts monday, so i wont be waiting long as it turns out. it will be great. what i have learned and seen -very clearly- is that God will use you where you least expect it. never in a million years would i have thought i would fall in love with this class, our students and teaching english. our students are seriously so precious. i just hope they know how truly blessed i feel to know them and witness them progress in learning our difficult language of english. God bless them and our program.

i have more to share but i have babbled on long enough. and i need to sleep. i will be heading down to see a friend at U of M tomorrow. he is in the hospital and just had surgery today. oh, and i have to work :D

la ta di da... you spike my blood.