in case you forgot how cute she is....

Merit on her new big-girl bed.

4 things

i was tagged by ryan, but i had no clue what that meant. now that i got it all figured out.....

4jobs i've had:
1. doula - doing whatever this mother of 7 needed me to do
2. youth intern - playing volleyball and meeting kids at starbucks was great ministry
3. cleaning houses with moni
4. sweet eugenes - all the free drinks i could ever want!

4jobs i still hope to have someday:
1. massage therapist
2. ESL teacher
3. professional skydiver
4. owning my own hostel

4beverages:
1. OJ, grapefruit or cranberry juice
2. decaf soy latte with sugar free vanilla syrup
3. shiner bock - like a good texan
4. diet coke

4things i love about the DR:
1. the mountains
2. the weather
3. the ministry
4. gilberto's chicken

4books i'm currently reading:
1. mere christianity
2. the practice of the presence of God
3. they shall know our velocity
4. a walk in the woods

4movies i abhor:
1. seven
2. crash
3. the dukes of hazard
4. silence of the lambs

4people i REALLY miss:
1. merit
2. christy
3. erin
4. trevor

4tags:
1. bmac
2. josiah
3. tran
4. josh griffin (you need a blog)

twenty-four

i got my ears pierced at the age of 6. turning 10 was HUGE because i was finally two digits! 17 was a cool age because there were so many songs that year about being 17. turning 20 was the best birthday because a big group of friends and i went paintballing where i deemed myself invincible and never went out of the game. about 20 friends also chipped in and gave me a brand new guitar and hard case. being 21 was one of the happiest times of my life - i got a rad piercing right before i went abroad with christy to study in costa rica. i had a boyfriend for the first time in my life, graduated from college and had about ten different jobs that year. 22 and 23 have been here in the DR...some of the most painful and growing times i've known. and let me tell you, 24 is off to a good start - i've been celebrating for the past 5 days with a motorcycle ride to one of the most beautiful spots on this island; friends took me wining, dining and...cigaring? (if that's a verb); and jessica and i had a two-day adventure to the beach where we layed out in the rain because it wasn't sunny.
now it's my actual birthday and i'm too exhausted to do much of anything. i love getting older though and am in awe of how full my life is. God kisses me everyday through my friends, family, and even the 9 teenage girls i live with. any guesses on where i'll be next year???

pork: it's what's for dinner

to be more

three of my girls that i've been with for over a year have left in the past week. i know they come here to eventually leave, but after pouring heart and soul into them for months it's hard to wave goodbye. of course, they all swear to keep in touch for the rest of their lives - invite me to their weddings and send me birth announcements of their children. we'll see.....
few are left that i worked with last year, and last year was completely different than this year. the dynamics in the house have shifted and there are few girls that crisis often. which you would think is a good thing, but it actually deducts from a groupleader's most effectual work. so the past 6 months i've felt somewhat lazy in my role and ineffective in my relationships in the house. my heart in this ministry is to impact the lives of these girls for the Kingdom, and lately all i feel like i do is help them clean the house. i know i'm on my way out, but after the extremes i've experienced here i wonder where i'll go and what i'll do that will quench my desire to be more than a good employee or friendly neighbor.

back to school

i took a three hour test today along with several of our students. it's a test to identify your skills of intelligence - creativity, processing, memory, perspective, logic, etc in order to better understand how you learn. i felt like such a nerd because i enjoyed it so much. i haven't been in school in over two years, so to be told "pencils down" or "take a water break" got me all giddy. i also felt extremely intelligent since i finished most of the exercises sereral minutes before the others.....then i remembered i was in a roomful of high school students and i'm a college graduate. oh well. if i score well i'll post the results once i get them. if, indeed, i am the psycho i think i am, then you won't hear of me "going back to school" anytime soon.