The after math

Aside from the jet lag and sore throat from the burst of coldness I was greeted by, I wanted to write a little bit about my trip.

The trip that changed my perspective on everything in life.

Vroom Vroom

The whole plane ride from the states my eyes were glued to the cute little screen on the seat in front of me which showed me where we were at the time. I wasn't even nervous about going to a foreign country where I won't be able to understand anything. After maybe 20 attempts of sleeping and only 2 hours of sleep we finally got close enough I could stay awake and watch us land.

 I walked off the plane feeling...well, very tired. (Thank you all the delt with me that day. lol.) We did a little running here and there and seeing this person and that person and I'm lucky to remember any of it. I was just soaking everything in.

Welcome to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The next day was when the amazingness finally soaked in. Africa is beautiful. The people are beautiful. I miss it already. I'm sitting in my lab at school and wishing I was there. I miss the smiles on the kids faces when we walked in the orphanges. I miss the feeling it gave me to see them happy.

This picture is just from the web because I can't post pictures of the actual kids.

They deserve that more often. I really dont know what to post. but I had an amazing time and with the work of God I'll be going back soon :)  I finally got to meet the kids my 2nd family adores so much. And guess what? I don't blame them. They are adorable, smart, funny and even though you can't understand a slight bit of what they are saying they still make you smile. They are meant for soooo much more. Each one with their own little talents and things they love to show you. They do just about anything to have your attention. If even for a second they have someone watching them, smiling at them, saying "Good Job!" That makes their day so much better. Simple little things like teaching them to wink. which by the way is super cute. :)

Sitting at the airport waiting to fly home was the hardest part of it all. Sitting there waiting for the plane to board and all these things running through your head. "I'm leaving these amazing people" "Why cant I do more?" "When will I be back?" "Will they still be here?" "Why does it hurt so bad when I know I'm going home to my family?" I fought back tears knowing if I broke down, Jaime would break down and that would just make a big scene in the middle of the airport.

The place where emotions spin.

Plane ride home was much worse than the one there. People kicking my seat, kids screaming. Just completely uncomfortable. Mind racing, heart aching, and on top of that I had already watched all the movies on the flight in.lol. Once we got to Washington it sank in that I was going to be going home to the amazing Thanksgiving dinner my lovely grandma waited to make til I got home. Never in my life was I so happy to hear Christmas music. It's usually totally annoying but sitting at the airport hearing it made me slightly happy, relaxed.

The song that stuck in my head



Praying for my little PB&J until I see them again.

Senior year

I'm not much of a writer but I'm gonna wing this and see what my little brain can come up with. It's almost a month into my senior year and already feels like a year. College. My least favorite thing to even think about. Where to go? What to take? When to start? Too much for me. Africa. Who? Why? When? How long? Those are questions i get daily and can answer ( after telling a long story) fairly easily. Is it November yet? I've never been one to rush on the cold weather but this year I am. Africa. I can paint the picture in my head. Airport. Plane. Bestfriend/mom beside me goin crazy. lol the smell, or what I assume it smells like. The feeling I get as I right this. Increased heart beat and butterflies. Not nervous butterflies but excited butterflies. This is all new to me. Passport? Never woulda imagined I'd need one. Especially not at 17. My brain is on over drive. School, college junk and moving on after school. Only time I get to stop. Take a deep breath. Think. Africa. That's the only thing I'm even sure of right now. Yeah I go to school but the days a blur by 4. Yeah I need to figure out college but I'd rather not. But Africa, nothing about it shouts out and mathematical equations or long passages about tires and oils. Boring I know. I guess it's just a relaxing subject for me. Africa. Puts a smile on my face and yet an ache in my heart. Haven't even been there and I'm already in love. I guess I have Jaime to thank for that. :)

If this bored you I'm very sorry. I tried. That's all I can do

This amazing love

I am terrible at putting my feelings into words so I tend to look online for things. I was just fiddlefarting around and found this song.


When He put me in this world
When He chose you as my mother
He sure made it right
He made it just right
Cause you love me in a way
That's not like any other
It must be a part of Heaven's design
This amazing love
Has arms that reach to hold me
Has hands that shape and mold me
And wipe away my tears
There's a place inside your heart
That feels like home to me
Where this amazing love is what I need
With a faith in things unseen
On these wings of gentle spirit
I rest in your prayers
At the end of each day
Covered by your love
I can face my future, not fear it
Learning to stand
On my own feet of clay
God is good and Jesus loves me
I know these words are true
Cause He said," just as a mother comforts, so I will comfort you"
There's a cold that comes in winter
With a fire that love sustains
Where a mothers touch and the hand of God
They somehow feel the same
This amazing love
Has arms that reach to hold me
Has hands that shape and mold me
And wipes away my tears
There's a place inside your heart
That feels like home to me
Where your amazing love
Gods amazing love
This amazing love is all I need.


I love you mom.I know this doesn't compare to ur post about me but u really do mean the world to me.

"My friend, if I could give you one thing, I would wish for you the ability to see yourself as others see you. Then you would realize what a truly special person you are." 

B. A. Billingsly

I love it!!!!!!

"The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof." 

Barbara Kingsolver

My......

My love is like, wow.
My family is like, heaven.
My friends are, the best.
And I'm completely, happy.

Friends

Flowers need sunshine, violets need dew, all angels in heaven know I need you. Years may fly, years may dry but my friendship with you will never die.

Just smile

A smile is a language even a baby can understand. It cost nothing, but it credits much. It happens in a flash but the memory of it may forever last.

Catch up time

The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.
-eleanor Roosevelt

I love my mommys

Everybody knows that a good mother gives her children a feeling of trust and stability. She is their earth. She is the one they can count on for the things that matter most of all. She is their food and their bed and the extra blanket when it grows cold in the night; she is their warmth and their health and their shelter; she is the one they want to be near when they cry. She is the only person in the whole world in a whole lifetime who can be these things to her children. There is no substitute for her. Somehow even her clothes feel different to her children's hands from anybody else's clothes. Only to touch her skirt or her sleeve makes a troubled child feel better.-Katharine Butler Hathaway

My mommy, my friend

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.  ~Washington Irving

There ain't nothing that can't be done
By me and God
Ain't nobody come in between me and God
One day we'll live together
Where the angels trod
Me and God

Early in the morning talking it over
Me and God
Late at night talking it over
Me and God
You could say we're like two peas in a pod
Me and God

He's my father
He's my friend
The beginning
And the end
He rules the world
With a staff and rod
We're a team
Me and God

I am weak, and he is strong
Me and God
He forgives me when I'm wrong
Me and God
He's the one I lean on
When life gets hard
Me and God

He's my father
He's my friend
The beginning
And the end
He rules the world
With a staff and rod
We're a team
Me and God

He rules the world
With a staff and rod
We're a team
Me and God

We're a team
Me and God

The secret of success is to know something nobody else knows.
Aristotle Onassis

Try not to become a man of success but a man of value.
Albert Einstein

I am Thankful :

FOR THE WIFE
WHO SAYS IT'S HOT DOGS TONIGHT,
BECAUSE SHE IS HOME WITH ME,
AND NOT OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE.

FOR THE HUSBAND
WHO IS ON THE SOFA
BEING A COUCH POTATO,
BECAUSE HE IS HOME WITH ME
AND NOT OUT AT THE BARS.

FOR THE TEENAGER
WHO IS COMPLAINING ABOUT DOING DISHES
BECAUSE IT MEANS SHE IS AT HOME,
NOT ON THE STREETS.

FOR THE TAXES I PAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM EMPLOYED.

FOR THE MESS TO CLEAN AFTER A PARTY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE
BEEN SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS.

FOR THE CLOTHES THAT FIT A LITTLE TOO SNUG
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT.

FOR MY SHADOW THAT WATCHES ME WORK
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM OUT IN THE SUNSHINE

FOR A LAWN THAT NEEDS MOWING,
WINDOWS THAT NEED CLEANING,
AND GUTTERS THAT NEED FIXING
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE A HOME.

FOR ALL THE COMPLAINING
I HEAR ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT
BECAUSE IT MEANS
WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH..

FOR THE PARKING SPOT
I FIND AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING LOT
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM CAPABLE OF WALKING
AND I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH TRANSPORTATION.

FOR MY HUGE HEATING BILL
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM WARM.

FOR THE LADY BEHIND ME IN CHURCH
WHO SINGS OFF KEY BECAUSE IT MEANS
I CAN HEAR.

FOR THE PILE OF LAUNDRY AND IRONING
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I HAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR.

FOR WEARINESS AND ACHING MUSCLES
AT THE END OF THE DAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN
CAPABLE OF WORKING HARD.

FOR THE ALARM THAT GOES OFF
IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM ALIVE.

The things unseen

We wonder why black and white pictures capture soul. I think it's cause without color, we aren't drawn to the makup, or the color of our eyes, or how tan our skin is. black and white captures the innocence on one's face and the hurt they've gone through to feel vulnerable. The glow we see comes from inside, brightening our eyes, our skin, and our smile. 

- Unknown

If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it

well-known speaker started off his seminar by:

Holding up a $20.00 bill In the room of 200, he asked, 'Who would like this $20 bill?'

Hands started going up.

He said, 'I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this.

He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill .

He then asked, 'Who still wants it?'

Still the hands were up in the air.

Well, he replied, 'What if I do this?'

And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor
with his shoe.

He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty.


'Now, who still wants it?'


Still the hands went into the air.


My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson.

No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it

because it did not decrease in value.

It was still worth $20.

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we
make and the circumstances that come our way.

We feel as though we are worthless.

But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value.

Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who
DO LOVE you.

The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE and
WHOSE WE ARE.

You are special

Don't EVER forget it.'

If God brings you to it - He will bring you through it. 

- Seminar Speaker

The naked truth

Life is the best school. God is the best teacher. Problem is the best assignment. Failure is the best revision. 

- Wilson Kanadi

Do I not get credit for being different?

I dont want to be another statistic
Some suicidal teen
Who makes choice to kill herself
When the world just seems too mean.
She cant go on with life
Or so to her it seems
Reality has fallen short

I dont want to be another statistic
Some pregnant little girl
Who met this great guy
And then gave sex a whirl
She was only 15
But it felt so right
She thought theyd be together
For more than just a night

I dont want to be another statistic
Some kid strung out on crack
Who started at a party
and now she cant turn back
First cigarettes and alcohal
Now meth crack and cocaine
Shes been smoking it so long
That now hes gone insane

I dont want to be another statistic
Some girl left in the rain
WHo was walking home from school
Then raped and left in pain
She cant tell her parents
And it hurts to tell her friends
She doenst know what shell do
To make this nightmare end

I dont want to be another statistic
Some kid out of school
Who dropped out early
And was acting like a fool
He thought that it was boring
He thought that it was dumb
He doesnt have an education
But lives on the streets like a bum

I dont want to be another statistic
Some sterotypical teen
Im gunna make a difference
Ill finish with my dream
I wont end up pregnant
On drugs or even dead
I wont drop out of school
Because ill use my head

I dont want to be another statistic
To fit into some mold
Of what society thinks of kids today
Because its getting kind of old
Not all of us are bad
In fact most of us are good
When will the world see us
And give us credit like they should?

- Unknown

A funny one for a change

The early bird gets the worm but the second mouse gets the cheese

Why?

I went to a party,
And remembered what you said.
You told me not to drink, mom
So I had a sprite instead.
I felt proud of myself,
The way you said I would,
That I didn't drink and drive,
Though some friends said I should.
I made a healthy choice,
And your advice to me was right,
The party finally ended,
And the kids drove out of sight.
I got into my car,
Sure to get home in one piece,
I never knew what was coming, mom
Something I expected least.
Now I'm lying on the pavement,
And I hear the policeman say,
The kid that caused this wreck was drunk,
Mom, his voice seems far away.
My own blood is all around me,
As I try hard not to cry.
I can hear the paramedic say,
This girl is going to die.
So whydo people do it mom
Knowing that it ruins lives?
And now the pain is cutting me,
Likes hundred stabbing knives.
Tell sister not to beafraid,
Tell daddy to be brave,
And when I go to heaven,
Put daddy's girl on my grave.
Someone should have taught him,
That it's wrong to drink and drive.
Maybe if his parents had,
I'd still be alive.
My breath is getting shorter mom
I'm getting really scared.
These are my final moments,
And I'm so unprepared.
I wish that you could hold me mom
As I lie here and die.
I wish that I could say "I love you mom"
So I love you and goodbye.

Short and sweet

Never regret something that made you smile

I read this to my grandma and halfway through she was sobbing. Not little gator tears but heavy sobs

Her hair was up in a ponytail
Her favorite dress tied with a bow
Today was daddy's day at school
And she couldn't wait to go.
But her mommy tried to tell her,
That she probably should stay home.
Why the kids might not understand,
If she went to school alone.
But she was not afraid;
She knew just what to say.
What to tell her classmates of why he wasn't there today.
But still her mother worried,
For her to face this day alone.
And that was why once again,
She tried to keep her daughter home.
But the little girl went to school,
Eager to tell them all.
About a daddy she never sees,
A daddy who never calls.
There were daddies along the wall in back,
For everyone to meet.
Children squirming impatiently,
Anxious in their seats.
One by one the teacher called,
Each student from the class
To introduce their daddy.
As seconds slowly passed,
At last the teacher called her name.
Every child turned to stare.
Each of them searching,
For a man who wasn't there.
"where's her daddy at?"
She heard a boy call out.
"she probably doesn't have one"
Another student dared to shout.
And from somewhere in the back,
She heard a daddy say,
"looks like another deadbeat dad, too busy to waste his day."
The words did not offend her,
As she smiled up at her mom.
And looked back at her teacher,
Who told her to go on.
And with her hands behind her back, she slowly began to speak.
And out from the mouth of a child,
Came words incredibly unique.
"my daddy couldn't be here, because he lives so far away.
But I know he wishes he could be, since this is such a special day.
And though you cannot meet him, I wanted you to know.
All about my daddy, and how he loves me so. He loved to tell me stories. He he taught me to ride my bike. He surprised me with pink roses, and taught me to fly a kite.we used to share fudge sundaes, and ice cream in a cone. And though you cannot see him, Im not standing here alone. Cause my daddy's always with me even though we are apart. I know because he told me, he'll forever be in my heart." with that, her little hand reached up and lay across her chest feeling her own heartbeat beneath her favorite dress.
And from somewhere in the crowd of dads her mother stood in tears.
Proudly watching her daughter, who was wise beyond her years. For she stood up for the live of a man not in here life. Doing what was best for her,
Doing what was right. And she dropped her hand back down. Staring straight into the crowd. She finished with a voice so soft, but it's message clear and loud. I love my daddy very much, he's my shining star.and if he could he'd be here, but heavens just too far. You see he was a fireman and died just this past year. When airplanes hit the towers and taught Americans to fear. But sometimes when I close my eyes,it's like he never went away."
And then she closes her eyes, and saw him there that day. And to her amazement, she witnessed with surprise. A room full of daddies and children, all starting to close their eyes. Who knows what they say before them, who knows what they felt inside. Perhaps for merely a second, they saw him at her side. "I know your with me daddy,"
To the silence she called out.
And what happened next made believers of those once filled with doubt.
Not one in that room could explain it, for each of their eyes had been closed.
But there on the desk beside her was a fragrant long stemmed pink rose. And a child was blessed, if only for a moment, by the love of her shining bright star.and given the gift of believing, that heaven is never too far.
- from the poem daddy's day by Cheryl Costello- Forshey

I don't have anything to 'blog' but I do have some great quotes I'd like to share

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let us down, probably will. You'll have your heart broken and you'll break others' hearts. You'll fight with your best friend or maybe even fall in love with them, and you'll cry because time is flying by. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, forgive freely, and love like you've never been hurt. Life comes with no guarantees, no time outs, no second chances. You just have to live life to the fullest, tell someone what they mean to you and tell someone off, speak out, dance in the pouring rain, hold someones hand, comfort a friend, fall asleep watching the sun come up, stay up late, be a flirt, and smile until your face hurts. Don't be afraid to take chances or fall in love and most of all, live in the moment because every second you spend angry or upset is a second of happiness you can never get back.