Stuff from My Life

I haven't updated in a while. I am sure all of about 2 people actually even read this but I felt the need to update. Here is what is going on in my life:

1. I will be in Nicaragua in less than 2 weeks from now. Yay!! I badly need a vacation from work. It's not that I dislike my job but the past couple weeks have been REALLY stressful as we have had more responsibilities given to us but the same requirements for getting everything done. So by the end of the day I am just drained. I need to get back to Nica and see all the kids and my friends. And the cool thing is the kids don't know I am coming! My first 2 days in Nicaragua I will be with my best friends' family and then I am going to the Orphanage and am going to totally surprise the kids. I'm going to be there the week before and the week after Easter so I think I will do an Easter Egg hunt for the youngest and middle kids.

2. I still want to move to Nicaragua but I just don't know how or when. I would need to find a job with health benefits, that is a definite must. And then there is figuring out what to do with all my stuff (sell it? ship it to Nicaragua? put it in storage?) same with my car, what to do with my dog Zoey because I don't want to be anywhere without her (I have had her since she was 6 weeks old and now she is almost 10 years old) but I am scared to bring her there, especially since all 4 of my best friends' dogs died of some weird illness. But I know all of that is just details which can be worked out and I don't know if maybe I am using those as excuses to not be working as hard at getting down there as I could because of my fear. Because it scares me to think about leaving my life here behind. I love Nicaragua and especially the kids with all my heart and I know it would be really awesome to be down there full-time with them. But it would also be really hard to leave everything here behind. Especially Spring Branch and all my friends there. They are like family to me and it would be hard to leave the Music Team, my Small Group, all my friends whose kids I babysit, just everything. But I also keep getting confirmation from others that maybe I should be moving down there. Last week my friend Dawn told me she's sure one of these trips I am just not going to come back but I am just going to stay there, and my friends Vinny and Betsy have been encouraging me for a few years now to find a job there.

3. I saw "Breaking and Entering" last night with Mark. I thought it was just OK, but not great. The acting was really good but the movie was kind of inconsistent and emotionally detached and lacked intensity. Tonight I saw "300" with Vinny. It was pretty cool visually. There was a family sitting behind us who'd brought their kids to the movie which really surprised me because this movie was in no way even remotely appropriate for kids. Teens, maybe but these kids were young. The oldest looked like maybe she was 11ish and the youngest couldn't have been more than 5. It was also very annoying because he kept asking questions, very loudly: "Mommy, who is that guy?" , "Mommy, is that guy hurt?" (after the guy in question had just been run impaled with a spear) "Mommy, which one is Spartacus? Is that one Spartacus?" to which the mom replied "Yes" when that character isn't even in the movie!. Arrgghhh. I really wish theaters would restrict very young children from movies like these. I know maybe it's just me who feels it's very irresponsible for parents to bring young children to movies like this but aside from that it's just really inconsiderate to let your child keep talking like that and keeping others from enjoying the movie. But I will get off my soapbox now.

Anyway, that's about all for now. Want to get some sleep before the week starts all over again tomorrow!

Is it Sunday yet??

OK, I am SO ready for this week to be over! This has just not been one of the greatest weeks ever. For one thing, it's been extremely busy at work, we're just getting slammed and that makes my head hurt.
Then yesterday was the court date for the guy who broke into my house. I was really hoping that everything would be settled so I could put this behind me and get some closure. But *nothing* was settled. Besides me, 2 of the other people this guy had hit (one guy's car was broken into, the other guy had his house broken into) were there and so we had to sit in the Victim/Witness Room waiting while the Prosecutor was talking with the guy and his lawyer. We waited for a few hours, then the Prosecutor came back and said we could go home. Apparently he'd offered the guy a deal and he turned it down and is going to fight the charges. The prosecutor then said he was going to Noelle Pros the charges, which basically means he's dropping the charges until a later date. I am still a little unclear as to why, but it has something to do with the time frame a prosecutor has after charges are filed, and also something about getting a heftier sentence if he's convicted on some of the more serious charges first. So, the prosecutor is at some point in the next few months going to re-file the charges and there will be a trial but I don't know when. So it was another day wasted in court and I still haven't even seen this guy yet. At least I have been assured he's not getting out of jail anytime soon. He's in the local jail now and could be transferred to the State Penitentiary. It'll be a long time before he is out again.
And to add insult to injury, while I was waiting for all those hours, I got a ticket on my car for my expired inspection sticker. OK, granted I should have had it inspected, but, COME ON, REALLY??? Ugh!!!
So now I am just ready for it to be Sunday. I have to go into work on Saturday to make up the time I missed yesterday but Sunday I get to go to church, which always recharges me and see my friends there and then come home and just take a nap and veg for the rest of the day.
Hopefully next week will be a better week.

Stressful Week

Once again the weekend has gone by too quickly. It's been fun, mostly. Other than going in to work yesterday for some overtime, that is. I went to see "Amazing Grace" with Noel, one of my friends from my Small Group and then we met up with Adele, another Small Group friend, for dinner.
Today at church a friend gave me an awesome Shrinky Dink she had made for me. It is awesome! She looked up the Nicaraguan flower online and then drew it onto a Shrinky Dink for me. That was so awesome and one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. It meant so much to me that she would take the time to find something that represented what is so dear to my heart to make into a Shrinky Dink for me.
And tonight we have a Spring Branch Dinner Event. Basically, different families are hosting potluck dinners in their homes and people can sign up for one and bring some food to share and just spend the evening fellowshipping and eating (two things which always go well together.)
And tomorrow is the start of another week. I am a little apprehensive about this week. Not exactly dreading it, but I am a little nervous about Wednesday. That's the day of the trial of the guy who broke into my house. This will be the first time I'll be seeing him face-to-face. I still haven't seen him and I have no idea what he looks like. I am not even very angry anymore as much as I just want closure to this. I think part of what has helped dissipate my anger towards this guy is that I have been praying for him. I don't exactly feel sorry for him because he is old enough to know right from wrong and to know what he was doing was wrong, but at the same time it's sad when someone so young so completely ruins their life. He is only 18 and he is looking at spending the rest of his life in jail (for some charges he racked up while he was out on bail after being arrested for breaking into my house) and it makes you wonder what went wrong in his life that made him make such stupid and life-wrecking choices. So I have been praying for him that God can reach him through this and change him so if he ever does get out of jail he can be a better person and not just even more of a criminal. So I am just ready for Wednesday to be over. And Thursday after work I am going to a dear friend's house who I can talk to about anything, so it will be nice to just be able to de-stress with good conversation.

2007 Spring Branch Women's Retreat

Last weekend we had our Annual Women's Retreat for my church. It was awesome! The past several years it's been held in Williamsburg but this year we had it in the Outer Banks, NC. It was nice because it was a somewhat smaller space, which gave it a more intimate feel. Also, instead of having a live speaker, we had a video of Beth Moore. I normally prefer live speakers to watching a video, but it was very cool anyway. I really love Beth Moore's teaching, and I got so much out of it! One of the things that has been hard for me as a Christian is that intellectually I know how much God loves me but moving that to my heart and letting Him love me to overflowing has been a struggle for me, especially dealing with self-esteem issues like I do. And the topic of Beth's teaching on the video was "Loving Well', one of her points being that we can't love others well until we allow ourselves to be well-loved by God. So I got a lot of take-aways that I am trying to work on now.We also had fun workshops to choose from during the day on Saturday. I went to one on Comedy Improv. It was so much fun! I can't remember the last time I have laughed so hard! And then we got to perform some of the improv games Saturday night. Very fun! And a few friends who no longer go to SBCC came out for the Retreat so it was awesome to see them and spend time with them again. Here are some pictures from the Retreat:

Dawn and me

Me, Andi and Katie, 2 of my roommates at the Retrat (not sure where our other roommate was at the time)

Jaynie and me

Lee Ann and me

Sandy and me

Fran and me at the Game Table

Monica and me