I have a few hopes and dreams for Ireland. These are the things I want to accomplish while there:

1. Capture a leprechaun. Ok, or just see one.

2. Learn new Irish words and phrases. That won't be the hard part. But using them correctly might be.

3. Have someone refer to me as a lassie. hahaha I dunno.

4. Find a pot of gold.

5. Kiss the Blarney stone.

6. Go to a real Irish pub.

7. Go to mass at St. Patrick's church. I've never been to mass before so I'm not sure what to expect.

8. Not get robbed or stabbed.

Dear Hershey Chocolate Company,

Stop making new delicious flavors. You are ruining my life.

Melissa

my boring life

So I was thinking about how boring my life is and how I want to move to a new and exciting city. But then I realized that I was at Target buying items to make a karate costume for a pig.

Maybe my life isn't as boring as I think. I'll explain more on Friday about that. There will be pictures too if I can remember to bring my camera.

What I'm obsessed with...

Most of you know that I get really obsessed with certain things for a short amount of time until something new comes along and needs to be obsessed about. These are my latest obsessions.

1. reading biographies...mostly about missionaries that lived a long time ago like William Carey, Amy Carmicheal and Patrick of Ireland (yeah, took me awhile to figure out that was ST. Patrick. He was really interesting.)

2. the candy corn pumpkins! I dream about these all year long and now it's the only time of year when I can justify eating an entire bag of them. you know it's an obsession when caroline and i break into nicole's classroom just to steal some of these pumpkins from her estimation jar. oops! your class might need to re-estimate that.

3. running. I feel really weird when I skip a day. so I even ran the 1/2 marathon with a fever yesterday. probably why I'm home sick today.

4. Jimmy Eat World's new cd. "Chase this Light" I listen to it about twice a day. I think that justifies an obsession.

5. Looking up international schools and then researching the city and getting obsessed about it. Currently I am obsessed with Cairo. I just go over my obsession with Madrid.

6. My trip to Ireland!! Yes, it's really happening. 20 more days!

"Keep Austin Weird"

I think the photos pretty much sum up the trip. Good times had by all.

my burfday

Thanks girls, for celebrating with me!

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat??!!! Best idea EVER!


This might be why I am single.

Thanks Em, for putting this all together. I know those hostess chicks gave you a hard time. Maybe next year I'll just celebrate at Taco Bell and we can bring our own cotton candy on fire.

My heart belongs to.....

The concert last tuesday was amazing. As usual. This was the 3rd or 4th time to see Dashboard and he gets better every time.

More Birthday Cards

"You are totally perfect excpet for nine or ten things. Definitely 10. Happy 27th! Send me an Asian!"

--(I'll let you figure out who sent this one. )

birthday card

"Happy Birthday! We love you! Come to see us when you can. I bake chocolate chip cookies."
--grandma and grandpa

I'm glad my grandma reminded me that she bakes chocolate chip cookies. Just in case I forgot.

what I want for my bday.....

Oh whatever.....

So I'm supposed to fill this thing out or whatever. Thanks for picking me, Em. This is all for you.

1. What were you doing 10 years ago? Let's see...starting my junior year of high school. oh joy. Probably doing the same thing I do now....only instead of being in school, I teach it now. My best friends were Jay and Courtney Hunt. Weird.

2. What were you doing 5 years ago? That was my first senior year....loved it!!! I hung out alot with those crazy boy neighbors upstairs. Loved them! Best year of college! Wait, no. 2002 was when I lived with Steph and Caroline and started dating Thom. Not my favorite year. But it was fun. My best friends were Hanna and Greg and Charlie. Hmmm. interesting.

3. What were you doing 1 year ago? Teaching 4th grade at a different school. My teaching partner just quit and I was super stressed about work. I had the worst kids on the planet and ran out the door every day at 3:15.

4. What did you do yesterday? Ran 4 miles at 5AM. Taught 7 year olds about self-control and subtraction. Stayed late at school organizing everything until 7:45pm. I need a life.

5. Snacks I enjoy ... pretty much everything that is edible. That chocolate cake I had yesterday was pretty good. I really like apples too. I dunno.

6. Things I would do with $100 million dollars ... honestly?? I would probably waste it just like I do with all the other money I had. But if I was being responsible....give lots away to good mission organizations like Door of Hope and Compassion International, etc. Pay off Reba's med school debt. And build a bigger orphanage than Oprah did in Africa. Not really, I'd just buy alot of cute shoes.

7. Locations I would run to ... Greece, Antarctica, Australia, Switzerland, South Africa, Peru.

8. Bad habits I have ... not calling people back. sorry! and procrastination in general.

9. Things I like to do: run, read, sleep, laugh. basic stuff. oh, and I LOVE snowboarding and wake boarding. The beach. Traveling. Having really good conversations with really good friends.

10. Biggest joy of the moment: Grace

18 more days until my birfday..... yay!

Painting is my crack

So apparently when I get stressed, I really like to paint. In the last week, I have painted 3 mirrors, 4 flower pots, and a bar stool. Now I'm totally addicted.

Pitching Tents?

This still makes me laugh.

When Good Pandas Go Bad....

Read this.

The best part of the story is at the bottom of the page.

" A month earlier, a drunken Chinese tourist bit a panda at the Beijing Zoo after the animal attacked him when he jumped into the enclosure and tried to hug it."

How did I not hear about this?? That is awesome. Good job, panda.

The Marriage Proposal

Yes, it's the dead of night so therefore I am awake and bored as usual. I once thought that insomniacs were all liars. Now I understand. Jet lag is going to be the death of me.

Marriage proposals are usually rare for me. Especially in foreign countries. Maybe my uncomfortable moment can amuse you. So I will tell the story.

On Tuesday of my trip to the Philippines we had a Pastor's conference. I had just walked over to this when I was approached by this guy. He came over, introduced himself, shook my hand. His name is Moses. Interesting.

Before I go on, I need to explain a little about the Filipino culture. Men and women do not show any signs of public displays of affection. Even if they are married, they do not hold hands or touch in public. It would be equivalent to like making out in public or something. Also, they don't date. Girls will have one boyfriend who they met in high school and that's who they marry after college. No such thing as dating. They think Americans are kinda skanky for dating. Maybe we are.

Ok, so we were having a "rolling brown-out". This happens several times a day when the power goes out for sometimes a few minutes or about 8 hours. So the lights went out, no one even flinched because they are so used to it. And Moses and I are talking. He's telling me about all the instruments he can play. He can play so many different instruments that he can't even think of all of them. Uh, huh. So then the conversation turns down a bumpy road.

Moses: Have you left a husband or boyfriend in the United States?

Me: Oh, no.

Moses: Oh, I thought you were married. It looked like you had a ring on.

Me: Umm. No this ring is on my pinky finger and it's made of plastic. hahaha. (uncomfortable laughing)

Moses: Are you searching for a husband?

Me: What?? Searching?? ummm no

Moses: You don't want to get married?

Me: Maybe someday. I wouldn't use the word 'searching' maybe just 'waiting'?

Moses: Well, maybe, Melissa I could pray for you and you could pray for me.

Me: Um sure.

Moses: I think that you could pray that God might bring us together in marriage.

Me: Umm.

Moses: I am wanting you to be the mother of my children.

Me: No, no thanks.

Moses: I think you should pray about this. And ask God if we should marry.

Me: Nope. I don't think so. Sorry.

(Really uncomfortable silence.)

Me: Well, I need to go find my friends.

Moses: Maybe, we could just be friends and I could get your email or phone number.

Me: No, I'm not going to do that. Sorry. Goodbye.

Now I think I should mention some important things. Moses is not Filipino. He is African. Later I found out that he is an "African prince" and he proposes weekly to every girl he meets. Nice. Everyone else thought this story was hilarious. I just avoided all conversations with guys for the rest of the trip.

Jet Lag

So I'm experiencing major jet lag and I've been up all night. I congregated with all the drunks at Taco Bell around 2am. Since there's not much you can do at 4am, I might as well write more about my trip.

Monday through Friday our group was in charge of the convocations for the high school and college groups. 1 high school convocation in the morning and 2 college convocations each day. Up to 5,000 students attended each convocation at Rose Memorial Hall. Pictured above.

I also spoke to a college class about being single and my relationship with God. This is a picture from one of the windows. Central air is not something of the Philippines. We were lucky to have a fan in most places. Temps were in the 90s most days.

Looking out the back of the auditorium in Rose Hall. There was a prayer group from the different Christian organizations that prayed for us during the convocation. Right before I went on stage to speak to thousands of students, my new Filippino friend, Elaine, told me that her group was there to pray for me. God is amazing.

This is Elaine. She became one of my closest friends there. She is a part of a mission team that goes and does mission work with various tribes that live in the mountains. She also helped me with my Tagalog. Magandang hapon!

"What is a 'ya'll'?"

Magandang gabi!

I'm back in the USA finally. We travelled for 40+ hours each way. I am experiencing major jet lag. I made the mistake of taking a 7 hour "nap" when I arrived yesterday. So I just woke up and had "breakfast". It is 8AM to me even though the clock says 9pm.

Everything was amazing. I don't know where to begin. I'll tell you a little about the Filippinos. Not only are they the friendliest people in the world they are the most gracious and loving people. You are expected to greet every person you pass. I was either called "Ma'am Melissa" (teacher) by the students or "Ate Melissa" (older sister) by the college students. Their culture is all about respect. Filippinos will love you forever, but if you make them mad they will hate you forever. I can respect that.

On Sunday we went out to several different churches to assist in the morning services. I gave my testimony at Sambag Baptist Church. I also had my first 3rd world country experience with the C.R. or restroom. (It is called the C.R which is short for Comfort Room. I found no comfort here.)

Monday through Friday we were at Central Philippine University. The bus came to pick us up at 7am and we would return around 7 or 8 pm every night. During the day we were responsible for the college and high school convocations. We performed the special music, preaching, and testimonies. I spoke to 5,000 students one morning. "The joy of the Lord is my strength."

More to come....I've got to pack to get ready for my flight to VA Beach tomorrow.....

Philippines Prayer Guide

Thursday July 19th

Pray as each of us leaves Houston we will go in His strength with a song in our hearts, ready to exalt the Father.
Exodus 15:2

Friday, July 20th
Pray that the team will experience unity as we pray in agreement, live in harmony, caring for one another and meeting each other's needs.
Psalm 133:1

Saturday, July 21st
Pray that each team member trust God completely as they share His truth. Pray that each person will embrace this scripture and realize God has chosen them and will help them.
Isaiah 4:9-13

Sunday July 22nd
Pray that all team memeber are encouraged in the Lord trusting Him for wisdom and a clear message.
Psalm 19:7

Monday July 23rd
Pray for safety and good health as each team member trusts in the Lord for His presence in ministry.
Psalm 125:1-16

Tuesday July 24th
Pray for each pastor who attends the seminar that they will be blessed and encouraged.
Colossians 3:2

Wednesday July 25th
Pray that joy will overflow showing forth Jesus.
Colossians 3:16

Thursday July 26th
Pray for each spokesperson to be bold and clear in message.
Ephesians 6:19

Friday July 27th
Pray that we believe God for miracles
Colossians 1:9

Saturday July 28th
Pray that during this time of rest a new awareness of God's mercy and grace will be experienced by all.
Colossians 3:15

Sunday July 29th
Pray thanking God for the presence of His Holy Spirit that gives us freedom.
2 Corinthians 3:17-18

Monday July 30th, Tuesday July 31st
Pray for each team member as they return home that their walk with the Lord has taken a giant step forward.
Colossians 4:2

Cringe

Did you have a high school diary? Would you like to read it aloud?

These people did. And it is hilarious.

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2305617

I would LOVE to go to Cringe Night and read mine. The thing is that my current diary entries sound like everyone else's high school entries. Just for this occasion I found an old diary from high school. If I could find my middle school diary, I'm sure that would be even better.

1996

"I'm in love! I met this guy in Driver's ed. He's great. He's tall, brown hair, good clothes, plays baseball, and good sense of humor. I'm not sure what color his eyes are, but I'll check tomorrow. He's just perfect. Except I don't know if he's a christian. I hope we can become better friends. He must have a girlfriend because no one who looks like that cannot have one. I can't believe he talks to me, and he knows I'm a freshman!"

Have I changed at all since high school?? It appears that I'm still looking for the same characteristics in a man. HAHA! I've been reading my old diaries and I'm so glad I wrote down all this stuff because I completely forgot about it. Most of what I wrote was prayer. It was more like a "dear God" diary.