Only one week left!

I can't believe I only have ONE week left here at NLCH! The past two months have flown by! Tomorrow, Daniel and Kara are taking the remaining 6 interns (which are all girls...poor Daniel) to Panajachel for our Intern Retreat. This will be a time for us to relax, enjoy each others' company, and reminisce about our internship at NLCH- our favorite memories, our least favorite memories, the things God has revealed to us or taught us during this summer, etc. Please pray for safety as we travel tomorrow, as well as a safe and fun time on our retreat! And thank you all again for keeping me in your prayers this entire summer! God has watched over me and continues to watch over me! I'm so thankful for this home and for this summer! I'm so glad I spent my summer here!

Slumber party!

Last night, we (the interns) had a "slumber party" with some of the older girls at their house. (I put slumber party in quotes b/c some of us actually went back to the dorms to sleep) The night started off with us making Cinnamon Roll Bread. We used a recipe from Donnie Webb (the guy who was here a few weeks ago and is the head of Construction at NLCH). We made 4 times the recipe because we wanted 4 loaves, but after we made the dough, we remembered that his recipe makes 3 loaves. We had one big ball of dough! It was pretty awesome! We had to let the dough rise twice so Emily finished preparing it this morning at 2AM so we would be able to eat it at breakfast. Eslin also braided my hair into tiny braids last night....my entire head of hair! It only took her an hour. I was impressed, especially when I asked her if her hands were hurting and she said no. Check out some pics of all the fun we had:

[Mixing the ingredients for the Cinnamon Roll bread]


[Kneading the dough]


[Enjoying a BlowPop sucker]


[Delia took a lot of random photos of Teryn and I last night]


[Getting my hair braided]


[Eslin and B after the braids were finished]


[Debora, Eslin, and Delia eating breakfast]


[Emily, me, Ibet, and Teryn enjoying our Cinnamon Roll bread at breakfast this morning]

A day in Antigua.....with the Bright Star team!

Yesterday, I got to go with the Bright Star group to Antigua, Guatemala. It was so much fun! The van I rode in had Daniel (the driver), Richard Jacobus, the Grucas, the Altomares, the Reynolds, and the Peteros. Getting to listen to their conversations and enjoy one another’s company was cracking me up! They are all so funny! Our first stop of the day was at La Iglesia de San Francisco. This is the church that holds the bones of Santo Hermano Pedro, the only saint from Guatemala. We walked around the ruins, looked at the museum (where we saw Pedro’s burlap underwear that he wore to punish himself), and we also got to see inside of the church. Our second stop of the day was at the coffee plantation. We had a Spanish tour guide because the English one was not there, so Daniel translated for the group! He did an excellent job! I think the team really enjoyed this place since a lot of them love coffee! We ate NI-FU NI-FA for lunch; it’s a REALLY good steak restaurant in Antigua! It was awesome! We had salads from the salad bar, garlic bread, French fries, and giant steaks. We also decided to have dessert and split them with another person. Kara and I ordered the cheesecake, which was not like cheesecake in the U.S. It had a good crust, but that was about it. The actual cake part had a tofu texture; it jiggled when I touched it! After lunch we headed to the market for shopping. I got to help out the Reynolds with buying jewelry and t-shirts, and then I also helped Heather Petero barter for some things for her friends. I mainly acted as their translator; it was fun and very good practice for me! Oh and Bob Reynolds was cracking me up while I was shopping with him and Nancy. He was trying to figure out an easy way to calculate the exchange rate for quetzals to dollars in his head, which is very hard to do since it’s about 7.5 quetzals for every dollar, but he was determined to find an easy way to do it! And then on the way home, every time someone would mention how much they paid for something at the market, he would try to figure out how many American dollars they had spent. We were all cracking up. Bob had also made the mistake (earlier in the day) of calling a quetzal a “casino”, so we got the pleasure of making fun of him all day for that, too! It was a fun day with the Bright Star team in Antigua! I’m SO glad I was able to tag along and hang out with for day!

[Me at La Iglesia de San Francisco]


[A few of us at the ruins at La Iglesia de San Francisco]


[Tim and Kara in the van]


[Riding with the Bright Star crew to Antigua]


[Jim drinking his free cup of coffee at the Coffee museum]


[Lisa enjoying her cup of free coffee]


[Kara and I sipping on our coffees]


[The Bright Star team at the Coffee museum]


[The restaurant where we ate lunch]


[Jack drinking his Pepsi at NI-FU NI-FA]


[Raise your hand if you want black beans for lunch!]


[Heather and I at NI-FU NI-FA]


[Me with my very yummy steak]

A Busy and Fun Week With Bright Star!

The Bright Star team has kept me busy this past week, but I've loved every second of it! I'm so sad that they're leaving tomorrow...I wish they could stay one more week and then come home with me! Here are a few pics from this past week:



JUST KIDDING...JUST KIDDING! No worries....they DID do work this week and lots of it!
(Pics top to bottom: Richard working on a sculpture for the Comedor; Pam A. and Nancy painting the fishes that Richard made; Nancy painting Bob's face; Lisa and Debbie sharing some educational games for some of the teachers at New Life; Heather Petero painting guitars in the older boys' room)

Bright Star is working hard!

The Bright Star crew is working hard! In the past three days they've already organized the supply closet, painted the boys' rooms, cleaned 26 childrens' teeth, done mulitple construction projects, fixed the telephones, and helped Kara with grocery shopping! They've also spent a lot of times with the kids painting faces; playing four square, basketball, and football; and watching the futbol games! Check out some pics of the team in action:

(Richard painting the boys' room)


(Diane painting an ocean scene in the little boys' room)


(Jack Checking out the ceiling)


(The Altomares eating lunch with Sammy!)


(Tim and Karla)


(Bob Reynolds working hard)

MAMBO KING!!!!!!!

(Mambo King Walking towards us...he's the guy in the white suit in the middle!)

(My attempt at taking Mambo King's picture without looking obvious!)

So church was not only exciting because the Bright Star crew was there, but also because MAMBO KING came today! (Remember that "Mambo King"- that's not really his name, that's just what we call him- is the guy at church who dresses very flambouyantly and dances around during praise and worship time with his matching rag) When he first arrived at church today, Teryn, Beth, and I had a really good view of him- he was to our right a few rows up, but then the ushers moved him to the center, front row....the same as Pastor Jorge H. Lopez. He was wearing a white suit with black pinstripes and had a white rag today! Anyways, we were sad becasue we weren't able to get any close-up pictures or video footage before he moved. I attempted to take a video, but it was so dark that I couldn't hardly see him; plus, I had the camera at an akward angle because I was trying not to make it ovbious that I was taking a video. he wasn't as "dancy" today as he was last time, but that was probably because we only sang one fast song. I wasn't going to leave church today without getting a picture of him, so I decided to try to take one as everyone was leaving. Beth and I waiting around the front in hopes that he would walk by. I got some pretty good pics of him for trying to not be too obvious about it. For one of the photos, I tried to look like I was taking a picture of the stage. Kara came up to Beth and I right as he passed us, and she said that it would be so cool if we could get a picture with him...and that SHE would ask him. At first, i was a little hesitant, but then thought, "What the heck?" Sure enough, Kara went up to him (and his wife) and asked. She said that she told him that he is a favorite of our group and that we just really enjoy his way of worshiping the Lord (or something like that). She then told him that some of the girls wanted a picture with him. He told Kara, "Of course....it's all for the glory of God!" Him and his wife were so nice. He even said "Cheese" druing the picture. Afterwards, he and his wife were so nice; they were hugging us and saying (in English), "We love you" and "God Bless You!" It was so cool! This made my day! "All for the glory of God!" We're hoping now that he knows he is "popular" he will atleast come back once in the next two weeks....I mean, it would all be for the glory of God! Oh, it was an awesome day at the Mega Frater!!!

(Beth and I with the Mambo King and his wife!!! Oh yeah!!!)

Es tiempo para la dentista!

Today, I spent all day helping Mrs. Gruca while she cleaned some of the kids teeth! She was able to get 17 of the boys' teeth cleaned today! She's awesome! I was in charge of going and finding the boys when it was their turn! I also did a little bit of translating and took a picture of each kid in the cool dentist chair! We thought that the little boys would be really scared of getting their teeth cleaned, but they were all excited about it! It was the older boys who were nervous! But I don't blame them; for many of them, this was only the second time they had ever seen a dentist/dental hygienist in their life (and for the others, this was their very first time!!)! I was impressed with how brave they all were! We're hoping that we can get finished with some of the older boys tomorrow! And at the rate Mrs. Gruca is going, she should be done in no time!!!
Photos: Mrs. Gruca with Sammy; Mrs. Gruca in action...cleaning Rony's teeth; Giovani with his cool shades on in the dentist's chair (we had the kids wear glasses so the dentist's lamp/light wouldn't bother their eyes);Mrs. Gruca with Ruben; Josue and I waiting in the Dentist's office

More Mumps (Case #3 AND #4)

Two more cases of the mumps have popped up here at NLCH!! Jessica came down with the mumps yesterday morning, and then Nancy came down with it later yesterday afternoon! So that makes 4 cases of mumps in the last week! Fun, fun!

BSUMC is here!!

The Bright Star team is here! I got to go with Daniel and Kara to pick them up from the airport! I'm so excited to see them all!!!! I'll be posting more soon (including some pictures)!!!!

Cousin Sue!

Daniel, Kara, and I had a fun outing yesterday! We drove to Zone 10 of Guatemala City to have lunch and meet up with my mom's cousin (or my second cousin). "Cousin" Sue is a flight attendant for Delta and had a flight to Guatemala yesterday. She did my mom a HUGE favor and brought down 44 pairs of jeans. (My mom has been trying to find a place that can use all of the gently used clothing from our house that my sisters and I can't fit into anymore; and me being here, plus Sue's flight gave her the perfect opportunity to give them to NLCH!) Sue was staying at the Real Intercontinental until her flight this morning (Thursday morning), so we met up with her there. Having to meet Sue at her hotel gave Daniel, Kara, and I the perfect chance to hang out and have lunch together! We went to TGI Friday's downtown! It was really really good lunch! And when I asked for a to-go box for my hamburger, they brought back a to-go box with a brand new hamburger and another order of French fries…….what place does that in the U.S.? I was impressed!!!

(A picture of the outside of Sue's hotel)

Mumps #2

So we were hoping that Yami would be the one and only case of mumps we would experience while we were here at NLCH, but that is not the case. Another girl from the home, Maria, just got back from the doctor a few moments ago, and she was diagnosed with the mumps. Since she is contagious, like Yami was, she has had to move into the Wheeler's house. This means that there will be a full house over there for the next week and a half; the interns (excluding Courtney and I, who are hosting the BSUMC team) moved over there yesterday. All of the beds are now occupied!!! Please continue to pray for Nurse Beth as she now has another patient to take care of, and also for Maria- for healing and for strength!

Fiesta de Superheroes!!!

This past Saturday night, the interns threw a Superhero Party for the level 3 and 4 kids. We all dressed up as our favorite superhero (whether real or made up). The kids were so cute and really got into dressing up. We helped many of the kids get ready for the party by painting their faces, making costumes out of construction paper, and giving some of them capes. At the party, we watched "The Incredibles" (in spanish with English subtitles) and chowed down on brownies, ice cream, gold fish, popcorn, and lemonade. YUM!
(Pictures top to bottom: Daniel dressed up as Kendon Wheeler (the director of NLCH; Everyone in their costumes; Painting the Superman emblem on Juan David's face; I went as Super Bailarina; Teryn, Emily, and Liz went as Hermanas Siamesas since the kids always ask them if their sisters because they think that they look alike!)

Mom?

I think my mom has a long lost sister that was sent to Pennsylvania when she was younger. There is a lady here at NLCH that looks like she could be my mom's sister. Her name is Donelle (name starts with a "D" too....hmmm....too weird), and her and daughter (Jesse) have been here since last Wednesday. They've been helping us out a lot and are having lots of fun with the kids. Anyways, here is a picture of my mom and then below is a picture of Donelle with her daughter....


So what do you think? Is it just me or do they really resemble each other? I thought it was too weird. I told Donelle that she reminds me of my mom and then showed her a picture. She agreed and thought it was too funny! She also told me that if I ever felt like I needed a hug from my mom, then I could just let her know and she would give me one. How sweet!!!

A Day at the Beach!

Yesterday, Daniel and Kara took all of the interns to Villas de Pacifico, a resort/hotel on Puerto San José. We weren't actually allowed to swim in the ocean because of the tide and sharks, but we were able to stick our feet in. Oh, and the sand on the beach was BLACK...it was the first time I had ever seen black sand in my life. It was a pretty neat experience. We had a day pass (from 11AM- 4PM) to the resort's pool, free and unlimited drink bar, and lunch. The weather was great, too! I went through a whole bottle of sun tan lotion! It was a really great day of just hanging out by the pool and relaxing!
(Pictures from top to bottom: my shadow in the sand; Me at the ocean; the outside of the hotel's lobby; palm trees at the pool....i took this pic just for Kelsey!; hanging out by the pool)

A few days of playing "Mommy".........

Like I've mentioned in a previous post, one of the girls here (Yami) has the mumps. She is having to stay in the Wheeler's house this week since she is contagious and a lot of the kids have not had their MMR shot. I've gotten to help out with taking care of her this week. I guess it's more like keeping her company than actually taking care of her. But anyways, I have really enjoyed spending time with her. We've done a lot of fun things, like play dominos with Beth and Emily, cook No Bake Cookies with Liz, watch High School Musical, have a picnic dinner while watching Pirates del Caribe (Pirates of the Caribbean), play with clay, and make bracelets. I've also gotten a lot more comfortable with speaking spanish around her. We've actually been able to carry on a few conversations without me pulling out my Spanish-English dictionary! And I really feel like a servant of God when I'm with her because I put my wants aside and concentrate on her needs and what she wants to do. I also feel like I've been playing "Mommy", especially these past two nights as I have read her bedtime stories (in spanish). I said a bedtime prayer for her tonight after the stories. It was a very special time for me! :)

Las Clases de Danza

I started the dance classes for the girls at the school and the home yesterday. Here's how it all went down: So it started to pour down rain at 1:40PM, but I just packed up all of my stuff in my bookbag, threw on my poncho, grabbed my umbrella, and headed to the gym. Two o'clock (the time for the first class) rolled around and no one was in the gym except me. I figured I would give them 10 or 15 minutes since it was still raining and since no one is really ever on time in Guatemala. Shelly came after she finished lunch to help me; that was around 2:15PM and there were still no girls in sight. I started to get a little sad and discouraged, but I tried to be hopeful. Around 2:25PM, Eslin (one of the girls from the home) came into the gym and asked me why I hadn't called the girls to come for the dance class; they were sitting in front of the school waiting. I told her that I didn't know that I was supposed to call them and that I was so sorry that they had been waiting. She went and got them for me and we were still able to have 30 minutes of the first class. There were about 6 girls in that first class. And thank goodness for Shelly. She was my translator. It is VERY hard to try to explain dance moves in spanish and also count in spanish while doing the steps at the same time!! Whoa....my brain was going crazy!!! The 3 o'clcok class started on time and ended up going very well, too. There were about 8 girls, including Delia (another girl from the home). I think the 4 o'clock class, however, was my favorite. This class was consisted of the older girls from the home so I knew all of them. And I'm teaching them a dance to the song "We're All In This Together" from High School Musical, which is just as big here as it is in the states, and the girls looked like they enjoyed it. The younger girls' class was at 5 PM. I was very tired at that point as you can probably imagine. The girls were being very silly and were being distracted by the other kids that were playing in the gym. I was getting very frustrated and didn't have much patience left in me, but I kept pushing on. Thankfully, Liz and Christy (2 of the interns), were there and helped me out. Caleb also helped to get the other kids out of the gym so we could have class. I had a really hard time coming up with things to teach the younger ones. I tried kicks across the floor and then decided to do some center floor stuff, like jazz squares, 3-step turns, pivot turns, and the grapevine, but they just didn't seem into it. I didn't think they would be able to do the High School Musical dance that I had taught to the older girls, but I decided to try it anyways because I couldn't think of anything else to do.....my brain was shot....and I really needed something to grab their attention. Even though they had a pretty hard time remembering the steps, they were definitely into the dance. They LOVE anything that has to do with High School Musical! :) I was planning on doing a 45 minute class with the younger ones, but stopped after 30 minutes. I think that was enough for them and me!!! I realized that I'm really going to have to think about what I want to teach these younger ones. It's a lot harder, for me, to come up with stuff for the younger ones and then try to explain it to them in spanish. I might still continue with the High School Musical dance, but just make up some much easier steps for them. So overall, classes went very very well!! Kara even told me that the girls were talking at dinner last night about how the classes were "chilero", which means "cool" in spanish, so that was really encouraging. Classes definitely wore me out, but I would love to keep on teaching if the girls want to keep learning!

Mumps, ear infections, warts, amoebas, and now maybe chicken pox?

Ever since Kendon and Wendy (the directors of NLCH) left for their visit to the states, the kids (and some of the adults here) seem to be getting sick every time we turn around. At the moment, here is what we have:
- 4 or 5 boys have open scabs from where they had warts removed; and these have to be medicated twice a day
- Alex, Damaris, and Dani have had ear infections this past week
- Delia (and I think maybe Solomon and Reuben) are recovering from amoebas (or some stomach virus). And now one of our kitchen ladies, Minga, has them (as of this morning)!!
- Vivian, the secretary, is out this entire week. She thought she had Typhoid fever, but the doctor said that wasn't it. He just told her that she needed to rest for many many days.
- Yami, one of the girls here, has the mumps and is staying in the Wheeler's house since she is contagious and none of the kids have had that shot.
- Josue woke up with a 102.8 fever and a few red dots on his body yesterday morning. He got a shot for the fever and it was gone by yesterday afternoon, but there wer still some spots (we're waiting to see if any more appear.....who knows....it might just be the chicken pox!)

Please pray for healing for all of these children and adults who are sick. And please keep Beth in your prayers as well. She is a nursing student who has taken over for Wendy this summer. She is getting lots of practice, but I know she has to be exhausted from running around trying to make sure all of the kids take their medicines and get bandaged up!

A Very Special Dinner!

This past Saturday night, we had a special dinner for all of the older kids (age 15 and up). Teryn, Kara, Courtney, Beth and Christy did the girls' hair while Scott, Liz, Emily, Caleb, Shelly, and I decorated the Comedor. All of the girls looked gorgeous in their outfits, and the boys looked handsome in their attire as well. When the kids first arrived we took their pictures in the garden. Once they entered the Comedor, Kara and Daniel served them a very special drink made with 7-up, cherries, and an orange slice on the side. Once they all arrived and were seated, we served them salad and garlic bread. The interns then put on a humorous Relationship Skit that turned out to be a hit. After the skit came the Lasagna, which was delicious!!! Next, we had the 3 married couples (Edwin & Reina; Daniel & Kara; and Christy and Caleb) play our version of the Newlywed Game. It was pretty funny! And congratulations to Daniel and Kara, the winners of our game!!!! Our theme for the night was "Dios me Completa" (God Completes Me). We wanted to explain to these young adults (since they are at the age where they want boyfriends and girlfriends) that a boyfriend or girlfriend can't complete us; only God can fully complete us. During dessert (Cheesecake with strawberry topping), Beth gave her testimony and did such an awesome job! She also emphasized our theme when she was talking about her relationship with her current boyfriend (who is also her first boyfriend). I really liked the quote she used, too (it goes something like this): If you just keep running towards God, one day you'll look beside you and there will be someone running right next to you! How cool! It turned out to be an amazing night, and I really think the kids enjoyed it!
(Pictures from top to bottom: The Comedor and all of it's pretty decorations; Pablo and Esdras; Ramsis sportin' the Mohawk; Chepe, Estela, Astrid, Jenifer, and Jon at their table; Marta, Deborah, and Sandra)

On the way home from church.....

I sat with Rony and Herbert on the way home from church today. I started out with about 5 inches of space to sit and then noticed, about ten minutes into the ride, that the amount of seating room I had kept getting smaller and smaller. I soon realized that Rony had fallen asleep on my shoulder and his weight was what kept pushing me over!!! It was too precious!!!

More photos from our 4th of July Fiesta!

(Top to bottom: Maria and I; some of the kids in the pool in the garden; the servers of our delicious feast; the little ones playing in the water; Josue playing with sparklers)

El Dia de la Independencia de los E.E.U.U.

We had our big 4th of July fiesta yesterday and it was a BIG success!!!! We started at 4PM with games, like the 3-legged race, dizzy bat spin, and the wheelbarrow race. After the games, we let the kids play in the pool in the garden and we also had face painting and snacked on popcorn balls. We ate dinner around 6 PM; we had hamburgers with the works, chips, lemonade, apple cobbler, and homemade ice cream. After dinner we had our carnival. Our games included the cupcake walk, water bottle knock down, ping pong toss, Around-the-World basketball game, and a watermelon seed spitting contest. The kids were also able to get prizes afterwards with the points they received from winning or participating in the games. The most exciting part came last- the FIREWORKS! Scott (one of the interns) and Jon (one of the kids at the home who now works here) shot off lots of fireworks! There were a lot more than I expected there to be! It was too cool! We then lit all the kids' sparklers and they ran around for about 15 minutes having fun with those! It was, by far, one of the best 4th of July fiestas I've ever participated in!!!! And a special thanks to Scott and Courtney for all of their hard work! You guys are awesome!!

The lunch I've been waiting for.......

I have been waiting for this meal ever since Kara and Daniel wrote about it on their blog, and we finally had it at lunch today......the Guatemalan hot dog (a tiny hot dog, guacamole, and cabbage all wrapped up in a tortilla). Even though it ended up being one of my least favorite meals, I'm still very glad I got to experience it!!! (The plate in the picture isn't actually mine...it's Sammy's plate. I wasn't brave enough to try it all together. I just ate the hot dog by itself and then the cabbage with teh guacamole on top, which I know is not any less weird)

4 de Julio: Preparación

The other interns and I spent most of the day yesterday preparing for our 4th of July Fiesta! We are really excited about it! We made over 100 "Ooey-gooey" Popcorn balls and 48 cupcakes for our carnival. I cut up 17 bags of marshmallows; I cut each marshmallow into fourths. It was a lot, but I got them all cut! Here are some pictures of all of the fun (top to bottom): Teryn and Courtney rolling the popcorn balls; Emily stirring the butter and marshmallow mix; Independence Day Man (Caleb)- he did an advertisement about our party at lunch yesterday; Me cutting up a billion marshmallows; Liz and her yummy Funfetti cupcakes.

Some more pictures from the STOMP Praise Night!

Here are a few more pics from our STOMP Praise Night! Top to Bottom:
Our cup game advertisement; the basketball stomp routine; Creating our painting to Gladiator music; one of the Gracias signs the kids created.

Laundry!

Like I mentioned in the previous blog, I did my laundry (myself) for the first time since I've been here today! I had my laundry done twice while in Antigua, but I didn't have to do it. I took it to a laundry mat where they washed, dried, and folded it all for me. Anyways, instead of using dryers here they still hang their clothes out on the line, but since it was raining today I utilized the empty room in the intern house!

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

After getting in the bed at 11:30PM last night, I definitely know I heard my watch’s hourly beep THREE times, which means I didn’t fall asleep until AFTER 2 AM (for the second night in a row). And my body woke-up sometime around 6 AM or so because I laid in the bed trying to go back to sleep a good while before my alarm went off at 6:30 AM. I think sleeping in until almost 10 AM and my hour long nap at 4 PM yesterday was what kept me from sleeping last night. And I wasn’t the only one who had this problem. It seems that everyone had a hard time falling asleep last night. (Oh and it also wasn’t fun waking up to find myself scratching my feet due to all of the bug bites. There are so many....my whole foot looks like it is swollen from all of the bites). Only getting 4 hours of sleep last night really made it difficult to stay awake in church today. I was doing everything I could to not fall asleep. I didn’t even try to translate the sermon, I was so tired; all I know is that the preacher continued with the Family Series and talked about mothers. After church, Daniel and Kara took the interns (along with Kara’s parents and Christy’s mom who are visiting this week) out to lunch at the Chili’s in the MiraFlores Mall (one of the nicest malls I’ve ever been to.....it definitely beats many American malls). Getting to eat at Chili’s was a really treat for me because I hadn’t been to a Chili’s in so long since they closed down the one in Douglasville a few years ago. The “American” food tasted SOOOO good. I didn’t realize how much I missed it. I had the Turkey Combo with the veggie medley. A house salad came with my meal, but I ended up giving it to Liz because they got her order mixed up. She wanted the “Crispy Chicken Ensalada” (salad), but the waiter obviously didn’t hear the “ensalada” part because he brought her just the “Crispy Chicken” plate. We had lots of fun at lunch and we were very thankful for the food!!! As soon as we got back to NLCH, I took a 2 hour nap to make up for the lack of sleep from last night. I’m just hoping it won’t affect me going to sleep tonight. I don’t know if I can handle 2 nights in a row of not being able to fall asleep. (P.S. to my mom.....just in case you were wondering- I did my laundry myself for the first time since I’ve been here today!) Here are some pictures from our lunch at Chili’s (top to bottom): Scott and Courtney; Shelly, Beth, and Liz; Courtney, me, and Emily.