MEXICO PART III

Here are some pix from our 3rd day in Mexico. Basically, we worked during the day and had services in the evening. It was interesting being the one on the other side of the coin and having to have everything translated for you, trying to follow the songs in Spanish, etc. Brother D- preached this evening. Our group also sang in both services (we had a service on Thurs. eve. as well). Pastor R- gave me permission to post some pix of the services so here you go.

Cynthia, Katrina & Liz

Spanish lyrics :D

Singing!
L to R: Bro. Marcos (playing the guitar),
his youngest son (he's SO cute!),
Pastor R-, and Bro. Marcos' 2nd youngest son

Worshiping God in the service

Pastor R- everyone loves him! :-)

L: Sister Elizabeth (one of the sisters there)
- translating the sermon into Spanish
R: Brother Danny - bringing the message

After the service everyone came to over the house to hang out for awhile and then we all headed over to Sseco's Taco Restaurant to eat and visit more. Fun, fun, fun! :D

Katrina :-)

Pastor R- looking at pix on Nastya's camera w/ Bro. Marcos

Bro. Marcos' youngest son (age 4) is SO cute! :P

Had to take a picture of the "STOP" sign in Spanish: "ALTO!" :D

Will try to post pictures of our last day there next ... the last day we had free time to go do some things for fun and we had service in the evening. We went to La Bufadora and got to see the "blow-hole" there which was pretty neat! Also went to the beach again. Till next time, please leave me a smile in the comments! Thanks! :D

MEXICO PART II

So for our next day in Mexico.... Tuesday we got up and going on our work by about 9 a.m. Bro. D.S. sorted us into groups and laid out the work he wanted us each to do. There was quite a bit to be done - painting the exterior of the 2-story house and several of the interior rooms as well, the outside metal gate also had to be hand-painted.

Sis. K- and Liz painting inside

The kitchen was to be cleaned and organized, things around the house repaired and cleaned, including the windows and blinds being cleaned. That job was assigned to myself, Nastya and Katrina .... and cleaning blinds isn't as easy as you might think! I think we are done cleaning blinds for another year! lol. We kept having problems with the dirt smearing. We'd wipe down one side, turn it to the other and wipe that side and then there would be dirt streaked on the other side again! *-* Grrrr!!!!! lol. But we made it anyways and I think they at least looked cleaner than when we started!

Nastya and Katrina - my group cleaning partners
slaving away cleaning windows and blinds :P

Our cleaning group (me, Katrina and Nastya)
yes, yes, beautiful picture, I know ....
just them, not me! :-(

After we were through with that and had taken a lunch break, we went outside to help the fence painters! Quite a job! The breeze was helpful in keeping it cool for us and not-so-helpful in blowing the paint around including in our hair and face! It was oil-based paint on top of it too so it did not come out too easy .... I think a few of us still have some remaining paint on us or in our hair as proof! :P

Fence painting :D
(L to R: Connor, Katrina, Emily, Nasyta, Amber, Franklin)

We also were assigned to clean the bathrooms .... I think we did that before we painted. We had little supplies ... which meant no nice toilet scrubbers with long handles ..... so what do you do? Scrub them with a little sponge/scrubby and your hands! :D SMILE EVERYONE! hehe. Since there were two bathrooms, we divided up and Cynthia (who had kindly offered to help us) and Nastya went to the downstairs one while Katrina and I did the upstairs one. She srubbed the shower, I the toilet including old paint that had never been cleaned off. Lots of fun! :D

After we cleaned up we all just hung out for awhile. Sis. Joy, Emily, and Bro. D- made dinner: bbq chicken, cilantro lime rice, and salad. Yum! Thanks you guys!

Hanging out and relaxing!
(L to R: James, Austin, Connor, Chelsea & Franklin)

After dinner, Pastor R- took us to the beach. It was very beautiful! The sun was setting and the sand felt great on our bare feet. Pastor R- and some of the others started a game of soccer. I will post pictures of the beach on my other blog: http://feleciasphotos.blogspot.com/

After we came back to the house, we played games and just hung out and visited. Several of the saints and their kids came as well. Pastor R- went and bought like 3 gallons of ice cream and some wafer cookies for us. Good times! We went to bed late .... as we did most nights following! Up and working the next day! All for now! Leave me a smile in the comments and I will try to post on the next day (Wednesday) in a few days! :-)

BACK FROM MEXICO!!!!! :-)

Hey Everyone! I'm back from Mexico!!! :-) The trip was awesome and Mexico was a very interesting place, but I am sure glad to be back in the U.S. and home here in Cali! I am going to ATTEMPT to do a post with a couple pix from each individual day, but we'll see how I follow through with that! lol.

We left Monday around 6 AM and drove all day, getting there in the evening. We stayed with Pastor R - at his parsonage that is joined onto the little church building. Our church bought this for them and so we went down to help clean, paint and fix things up. It was an interesting drive down and there were times when we were so bored and tired of sitting and driving that we would be in hysterics and laughing at stupid things! lol. The drive back ... now THAT'S an even WORSE story! lol.

Crossing the border into Mexico .....
good thing my new camera has great zoom! :D

The flag of Mexico .... I saw a huge flag overlooking the country shortly after we drove in and had wanted to get a picture of it, but wasn't able. I took this picture another day.... this flag was the biggest flag I've seen - it was HUGE!!!

Most of our drive into Ensenada was along the coast. It was SO beautiful especially as it was mostly while the sun was setting so we got a lot of beautiful pictures of the sun on the ocean. I will try to post pictures of it on my photo blog. http://feleciasphotos.blogspot.com/

We stopped along the way to see the ocean and take pictures. I thought this picture of Nastya a.k.a. Chelsea was pretty.

Nastya took this picture of me overlooking the ocean. Yay for Mexico! lol. :P

Before we went to Bro. R-'s home, we stopped at a taco stand and he bought fish and shrimp tacos for everybody. They were really good. I was a bit hesitant at eating FISH tacos....but everyone loved them, even Nastya who is super picky and HATES fish! We went and got more fish tacos again later in the trip! :P

Okay. This is all for now. Will try to post more later. Leave me a smile in the comments! :-)

ON TO MEXICO!

So for a quick update - I got my PASSPORT today! YAY!!!! Just in time as tomorrow or Saturday would've been the last chance for me to get it. Thank the Lord! I had requested prayer at church and one of the saints told me that they would be praying - "you'll get it Friday" they said. Sure enough, well, it's not even Friday and it's here! :-) We are leaving Monday morning and coming back Friday so I will be gone for the majority of the week next week. Pray that everything goes well! And so, it's on to Mexico! So long!

GRADUATION FINALE

So everything with graduation is pretty much over. Mine and my bro's grad party was Saturday and we had a great turn-out! So many family and friends came and were so generous! Thank everyone and especially my parents! We had quite the time and ended the night with a few "stragglers" in a game of tag foot-ball that lasted for uh, well, a couple hours! :P It was fun and some of the players can show you their battle scars, let me tell you! Now it's time to write out a gazillion thank-you cards . . . .

Now I'm just hoping and praying that my passport will come soon! We leave for Mexico in 6 days. We had some problems and just got it upped to a passport . . . . hope everything works out! Pray for us if you think of it! Thanks! All for now - so long! :-)

TO HOMESCHOOL OR NOT TO HOMESCHOOL?

This morning I overheard my mom discussing the subject of homeschooling with someone and it got me thinking. I decided I'd write my thoughts in an "essay" to share. This is NOT to be judgmental of anyone - simply to share how I feel and what I know, myself being homeschooled K-12.

Yes, homeschooling is a HUGE decision and definitely, at times, can be a lot of work - BUT is it worth it? By far, in my opinion!

My parents decided to homeschool us kids (me being the oldest) and it has definitely been the best decision for our family. Through the years, God has always provided the money, the curriculum, the supplies, the help, the perseverance and the grace. He was always there whenever a need came up or a problem had to be faced - and yes, of course, I prayed in school for some of those "problems" that happened to be in my math - or the biology experiment that I had to little idea of how to do.

In my opinion, homeschooling is the best educational option out there! There are many who would like to put arguments against it - yet why is it that the general comparison between homeschoolers and those that attend public school shows that the homeschoolers are doing better all the way around - not just "educationally", but yes, emotionally, mentally, physically, socially . . . . Not that I am lifting homeschoolers up as though we were better - far from it!!! However, studies have proved these afore-said ideas to be true.

One of the biggest "arguments" that I hear is that kids need to go to public school to learn how to socialize. Well, let me now ask YOU a question! Since WHEN did "learning how to socialize" become the reason we go to school? I never knew public schools were started so that young people might learn proper "social skills"! (That's new information to me!) I always thought we go to school to LEARN! In my thinking, if I have to go somewhere to learn my social skills, I think I'll go somewhere else besides public school! Public school is probably the last place I'd want to learn them if I had to choose!

There are perhaps pro's and con's to both public school and homeschool. Granted, there are perhaps many people that homeschooling is just not for, or who just can't for various reasons. However, I, myself being a homeschool GRADUATE, can say that given the choice to do it over again, I'd way go for homeschooling once again and I that I think there are many good reasons to homeschool. Number one, you get a deeper, more personalized method of education. Number two, you have a wider set of resources. In fact, the resources open to you via homeschool are practically boundless. Number three, you can work more at your own pace and actually learn a little more. Number four, you don't have to have the concern about your peers affecting your concentration, neither do you have to worry about the influence that you would be faced with every day, all day. You are better able to focus, learn and cultivate the person YOU are as opposed to the person that your peers want you to be. Number five, you have more time and flexibility. You can spend more quality time with your family. You have more free time to develop and enjoy your personal hobbies and interests. Your life isn't so tied down by school.

I could continue on. One of the most important things to me is the freedom to honor God openly and to pray to Him. Who says I can't do a research paper on how amazing God's creation is as opposed to how the world "evolved"? Who says I can't say the Pledge of Allegiance including the phrase "One nation under God"? Who says I can't openly bow my head and ask God to help me understand it all? Who says Bible learning and scripture memorization can't be included in my studies? Why, again, was school started? To LEARN or to "SOCIALIZE"?

As you can tell, for me personally, homeschool was the best option. I love the freedom of it! For those of you who have the option - pray first and then take my advice - DO IT! . . . And let me know if you have any regrets!

*Special thanks to my parents for homeschooling me and giving me such a wonderful, educational foundation - and for raising me to personally know Christ!*

As a note - this post is NOT intended to be judgmental OR make someone look bad or feel bad! It is not intended to be of conflict! Only to state my thoughts and beliefs. Hope you enjoyed it! :D

GRADUATION BANQUET 2009

So Friday was the long awaited church graduation banquet and it turned out great! Nastya stayed the night with me Thursday so we could get ready together and finish up the slide-show. For those of you who have long awaited pictures of my dress you finally get your wish! lol. :P

The front ... & the back

Nastya & I - in front of the fountain there in the Holiday Inn

Some friends of ours decided to "surprise" us (yeah, I kind of accidentally found out!) and send us in a limousine! Yup! Nastya was dreaded it all day after she found out because it was "so public". Lol. But we had a good time and I think she did too. We went and picked up her bro, two cousins and Aunt. After that her aunt decided to make us graduates have to do something .... so she had the limo driver pull over in the McDonald's parking lot and made us grads get out in our formal dresses and all and go inside to order drinks. We went in trying not to laugh too hard while everyone in the restaraunt was staring at us. Then Nastya goes up to the counter and is all "Can I order 25 large fries?" and her brother goes "Where are the drinks?!" lol. We had quite the time! It was pretty funny! :P

The outside of the limo -
the driver took this of us before we stepped inside for our ride :-)
(Shane, Nastya & Me)

The inside of the limo -
(Priscilla, Shane, Me, Nastya)

So then when we pull up in the limo to the Holiday Inn there's a whole group of people out there to welcome us! Talk about public! Yeah! (Nastya was having quite the hysterics it seems!) But we got through it!

One thing I do want to thank God for though - when we got the to the banquet and put the slide-show on Nastya's dad's computer to make sure it was going to work . . . everything was gone! The basic layout was there but the pictures and music all had to be put back in again .... so basically we were going to have to do most of it over again. Then Sis. Amy had an idea (totally God!) and asked if maybe the drive letter was different and if so, if it could be changed. Sure enough, we had done the slide-show on our comp which had a different letter drive than Nastya's dad's. Bro. L- came and changed it for us. We were totally praying hoping it would work and it did! We were so happy! Thank you, Lord! It all worked out great. And yes, we got to stand up in front of everyone while they "fried" us by telling things about us including our weird habits and funny stories. lol. :P So yeah. Nastya stayed the night again with me and when we got home, we opened all our cards and gifts ... and felt so spoiled! Thank you everyone for your out-pouring of love!

This Saturday is mine and my bro's grad party and then I think everything for graduation will finally be over. Of course, a couple weeks following that I am supposed to be going to Mexico. Looking to God to work everything out with my passcard/passport. Okay. All for now! Hope to be seeing some of you on Saturday! :D Leave me a comment please! Thanks!

My family (except Priscilla - she couldn't come)
- Mom, Me, Shane & Dad

Cousin Amber, Shane, Mom, Me & Aunt Sherry

My bro & I - grads together! :D