Let the Adventures Begin!!

Hola! Just in case you've forgotten what I looked like, or wonder if I have gotten fat, here's proof that I'm alive, well, and still skinny-ish!! (I know, I know...it's the curse of the photographer to always be behind the camera and never infront!!)  For as hot as it's been here and as much as I've been sweating I think I could eat a whole pizza every day and still not gain weight! Yesterday the low was 80 degrees. They say we'll get used to it, but my question is when!?!  I think we have another month of hot temps before it starts to cool down a little, but we've started to get creative in the ways that we cool down. Some have learned to make their own popsicles out of the fruit juice we have at every meal, some run through the sprinklers that water the new sod in our backyard, some just jump in the pool with all their clothes on (3 weeks in and it's still happening at least once a week) and some head to the beach whenever possible. I'm not a beach person, but the breeze is greater and the water is cooler...so that's where I found myself yesterday! And the view isn't bad either!! 

I know, I know...tough life! 

We are all, for the most part, still in the honeymoon stage. Still not believing that we LIVE here and will continue to live here for the next 8 months. And while I am loving my tan, I definitely miss the 60 degree days of fall where you can wear jeans and a hoodie and drink a salted caramel mocha without dripping sweat into it. However, on a positive note I did discover today that the hot chocolate they serve has a hint of cinnamon in it so I can totally make my own caramel cinnamon mochas!!!!  BONUS!

The kids are now in their 3rd week of classes and have survived their first bible exam! They were excited to show me their grades, and I totally though about posting the 100's on my fridge! Gah! Totally a mom thing to do!! Who am I?? I'm definitely having more mom moments...like when a few of the girls went off on their first adventure/bus ride/home visit/overnight trip. They went with another missionary, Adrienne, who has become a fast friend of mine. She's awesome and I totally trusted her with the girls, but there's always that little bit of responsibility anxiety inside of me!! 

I'm sure there will be more of those moments to come as they start their ministry opportunities in the next couple weeks and are able to get out of the fenced in complex for some freedom, space and fresh air. But will totally have to trust God for their hearts, minds, words, protection and safety.  

Since we are starting to get into routines, were also trying to spice things up a bit and have some fun nights as well. Last Tuesday we all went out to dinner together and got some amazing Italian food. We also learned that seafood is good on pizza, Carter likes 5 lime wedges in his Coke, and its typical to be at a restaurant 2 hours before you actually get your food. I'm just wondering who it was that prayed for patience that day!! 

I also was able to take a day off last Thursday when I was invited on a 'hike'. So you know me...I had to get all prepared and matching and mentally prepared for a day that started at 6am! I was excited because some of the missionaries and their families were going and I love any opportunity I get some time with them to get to know them better, and having friends round that can speak English and translate for me!!

What I wasn't aware of (what NO ONE was aware of) was how many people were actually going and what 'hike' really means. I think we ended up with 20 Dominican adults and 6 of their children, 6 American missionaries and 4 of their children, 4 huge coolers, 2 jugs of water, 1 portable cook top, one tank of propane, a rake, 8 metal folding chairs, one domino table, a birthday cake and over a dozen fresh avocados...all in a bus for 4 hours as we drove up, over, and through mountains, valleys, and rivers! We finally set up camp around 11am after we found the perfect spot and from there just relaxed and played in the river. 

I am so grateful for these women!! It's still funny to me that even at home, the majority of my friends are either older or younger than I am...and few friends are my age, but down here the majority of the people around me are in their early thirties! 

I am fully convinced and aware that this was also part of Gods plan.

Later that afternoon we finally got our hike. Err, well should I say climbing adventure. There aren't any pictures of this simply because to get to the trail we had to cross the river and it was no crick folks...they had been releasing water into the river every hour so by the time we started our adventure it was 6 feet deep in parts and flowing at a good rate. Needless to say we had to calculate water speed, distance to the other side, angles and all that fun survival math stuff that Bear Grylls had prepared me for!! We had to swim hard and leave the camera back at camp. But we all made it safely across...maybe next time I'll remember to take my waterproof camera (Ugh...preparation fail on my part). There were 7 of us that made the hike, but what we didn't realize was that we had to climb vertically over hundreds of huge boulders to get to the cave (while soaking wet). Those days of YMCA rock wall and Circle C Wild West Adventure Town instructing came in handy!! (Also something God knew ahead of time) so after 30 minutes of climbing, jumping, pulling and pushing our way up, we all made it to the cave and it truly was worth the climb. We spent a few minutes there basking in Gods handiwork and catching our breath before heading back down. Coming down (for the most part) was easier than going up...but we prayed the whole time that the plants that we were using as anchors or trudging through weren't poisonous (Don't worry, they weren't). We got to the bottom, rode the raging river back to camp, dried off, changed, packed up and got ready for our 4 hour bus ride home. 

Hopefully this might be a place where we can take the kids...as long as we invite some our Dominican friends to make it a fiesta!! They sure know how to have a good time! But truthfully...i really went all in the name of excursion research!! ;)

(Sorry for the 'all about me part'...I know many readers want to see what the students are doing!!  But just be warned, there might be some personal posts among the weekly updates!)

We rounded out the weekend with a movie night in the Carter's apartment with cake, coffee, and snuggles (with each other and Jesus...not with me) and can hopefully make it a weekly or bi-weekly thing!! 

We've also got some fun things in the works for this week...but I'll tell you more about that next time! 

Please also keep us in your prayers, the honeymoon/vacation phase is coming to an end and satan knows how to attack each one of us. Pray that we can have peace while we're here, strength, good health and be good encouragers!! 

Gracias & adiós! 

Things that are awesome:

EVENING ONE-on-ONE CHATS (and getting to know the kids more)

DOWN TIME WITH NEW FRIENDS

BLANCO (our bus driver) 

AVOCADOS (still haven't gotten old yet!)

LAZY SATURDAYS

LEARNING A LITTLE BIT OF SPANISH EVERY DAY

Things that are not so awesome (but not horrible either):

HAVING MOM MOMENTS (kudos to all the moms out there!)

THE CONSTANT HUMIDITY

Phrase of the week:

"You can cuddle with Jesus"