December 12... Our Lady of Guadalupe day

I don't fully have a grip on WHY they celebrate December 12... but I do know it has something to do with Juan Diego's visions of mary... And the roses that apparently appeared.

The Mexican Catholics on this day... we december 11 AND 12... Celebrate Mary. They create these shrines, have huge parties... carry Mary status with them in little parade type things. Plus, we saw a ton of caravans to the basilica in Mexico City!

I wonder two things... what makes them want to worship Mary...

And I wonder what it would be like if we took all of that energy on worshiping a false god and redirected it to worshiping GOD! The world would be changed!

crazy busy weekend!

Friday we had the closing party for all of the community center classes! It was a great night... lots of Christmas carols, laughs and talking about the Christmas story.
It had great attendance... at least more then i thought was going to show up!
And i got to make Ponche for the first time!!! Ponche is a really yummy hot fruit drink!!
 I am not going to write it all here... because well my co worker did a great job of explaining it (with pictures and all!)... so check it out.
http://cottrillcompass.com/blog/2011/december-2011-clausura-whats-that.html

Saturday...
Starting bright and early at 8am we had a youth group project. They painted the bottoms of trees in Jesus Maria (to keep the bugs from attacking the trees). AND we finished painting the coffee shop! We risked Tiffany's life a few times but it is finished! Now to buy the stuff we need and decorate!! =)

Last night, i got to experience my FIRST earthquake! I actually had no idea what was happening at first. I thought i was going a little crazy ;) I was walking on the street when it happened and I think it lasted a minute or two. Everyone was flooding out of their houses... No one around here was hurt and buildings are still standing.. fortunately we weren't near the epicenter. 

You can find more information about the earthquake at: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/dyfi/events/us/c000753u/us/index.html

Today was church... and then youth group! We had a great time with the youth. We watched the Louis Giglio video "how great is our God". Then we played game ... a scavenger hunts of sorts! Lots of fun... one group brought back a dead turtle... and one group a bag of poo! oh youth group!

Finally, tonight Fabian, Tiffany, and I went to see the new Courageous movie! It IS in theaters here in Mexico now!! GREAT MOVIE... everyone should see it!

(30/30) Weather Today!

Well... here is the last of my 30 days of blogging. I kinda enjoyed it! Maybe i will keep going! ;)

Anyways, tell me if you see any difference!

Nebraska Today:

Ixtapaluca Today:

(29/30) Just Wondering

I am just curious. What sort of event would I wear these to? They don't seem quite office-chic to me, nor do they look like something I'd wear lounging around the house. Especially not at $650.00 a pop! 

Yikes.

Am I just woefully fashion backward? (Don't answer that. It was rhetorical.)

(28/30) What I want to be when i grow up

When I was in kindergarten, I remember the teacher going around the room and asking each of us what we wanted to be when we grew up. She'd write our names next to what we said and then one lucky kid got to take the poster home at the end of the day. 

Most of the kids said they wanted to be teachers, doctors, baseball players, ballerinas, and so on. When he was asked, the little boy sitting next to me smiled cherubically and said, "I want to be a dentist." (Yes, like that elf in the Rudolph movie.) Everyone oooed and ahhhed. And then the teacher smiled over at me. 

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" she asked, marker poised to write down my answer. Everyone stared at me, ready to hear my exciting revelation. What, exactly, was it that I wanted to do for the rest of my life? 

And I choked. 

"Well, I guess I want to be a dentist, too. Maybe," I whispered. 

She nodded and wrote it down. And I stared at the floor. I knew I didn't want to be a dentist. I wasn't sure what I did want to do when I was five years old, but I did know I wasn't going to be enrolling in the dental academy. 

I went through stages where I wanted to be a science teacher, a forensic pathologist, an undercover cop, a K-9 cop, , a trauma psychologist, a vet, a marine biologist, and a special ed teacher. However, if you'll notice, many of those require more than one math class once you get to college. Thus, I became an Recreation major. :-) 


Actually, even in high school I knew that i wanted to work in camps and non profit businesses, but had no idea how. It seemed like an unattainable dream, so i kept pursuing the list above!


And i did, i worked at a camp doing the programming for that camp. I LOVED it! It was my dream job. 


But, if you would have asked me three years ago what i would be doing... i would have never guessed that I would be living in Mexico as a Missionary.  And loving it... and thanking God every day that i am here.. experiencing what i am experiencing!

(27/30) I am a lister!

It's true, I'm a lister. Not an A-lister. Big difference, you know.

I have had lists every day of my life since I was probably in...seventh grade? Maybe sixth...I can't remember. It's a testament to my truly organized personality.

I wish I had pictures of the lists that existed back then.  They were riveting and contained the most minute details about things like, a) what I should pack on the upcoming trip to camping trip, b) what I needed to do in order to finish my homework on time, and c) things I wanted to buy with my babysitting money. .

Now my lists aren't really much more sophisticated. But they're truly the only way I survive. You know how they (whoever "they" is) say that you only use part of your brain to function. And sometimes the little things take up so much space they push the big things out of the way, and before you know it you forgot something really important.

I like this about myself. I kind of hope I make lists for the rest of my life. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be chilling in the nursing home, making a list out of which gameshows I want to watch for the day and which grandkids I still need to knit scarves for or something like that. ;-)

(26/30) Sometimes I...

Sometimes I... wonder where I am going to be in five years.
Sometimes I... wonder where i am going to be in twenty-five years.
Sometimes I... think it would be really awesome if some of my friends lived within driving distance of me.
Sometimes I... really want a iced vanilla chai tea!
Sometimes I... can't stand my alarm clock.
Sometimes I... can't believe I am here, doing what I do. It was a series of small miracles that got me to this place.
Sometimes I ... forget to read my bible.
Sometimes I... wish i had taken Spanish in high school.
Sometimes I... wish I was married.
Sometimes I... have dreams about whatever tv show or movie i was watching that day!
Sometimes I ... wish i was athletic
Sometimes I ...wonder what would have happened if i had taken a different job 4 years ago.
Sometimes I... wish i could go back in time.
Sometimes I... wish i never dated that one guy..hahahah =)
Sometimes I... wish i could visit Nebraska for the weekend 
Sometimes I... wish my hair could be curly.
Sometimes I... smile just because.
Sometimes I... feel like i could sleep for a week straight.