Day Camp and Sightseeing

Day 3 at Warsaw Day Camp

Dzien dobry!  Good day!  Last night was awesome.  We went on the city search and saw many things.  Paula and I were in a group with Isabella and Paulina who are 2 Polish girls that are in an English Club here with Ben.  There were 3 groups of people that split up and we were all given a list of 6 things/places to find in Warsaw.  We also had to answer questions about each place.  It was fun.  It was very interesting talking with the 2 Polish girls.  I asked what Polish people think of Americans and they said that most of them are fascinated by us.  Paulina talked about the “American Dream” and about our TV shows.  She said that I had very dark skin and they said that I looked like I was from Holland and that was strange to me.  Anyway, we went to Pizza Hut last night with them and we had a good time.  Today at camp I was in charge of recreation.  It was fun today as we played with water balloons.  Although at the end one of the boys helping thought it would be funny to soak me with a bucket of water.  Ugh.  So my shoes are wet and my clothes.  I sat my shoes outside to dry in the sun and changed clothes.  I went to take a nap during the afternoon and was woken up by thunder and loud rain.  I jumped up and realized my shoes were outside!!  I ran downstairs to grab them and they were not there.  One of the girls told me that the boys had hidden them.  So I am trying to find them and Matilda said they put them on the window sills outside.  Luckily, they were not wet!  So their devious plan actually helped me out.  J  Tonight we invited all the children and their families back to celebrate Our Independence Day with us.  We grilled out and then played games.  The parents played with their children as well.  After that we had a “Barn Dance”.  They loved it!!  We all enjoyed it.  It was a huge success.  I am so thankful for this opportunity and love seeing what God is doing in this community.  One of the parents thanked me for coming and sharing with them.  This has really been a great experience.  I need to go to sleep now.  It is almost 10:30 pm here but it just feels like 7.  I just can’t get used to it.  Only 2 more days of Camp left.  Praying that it will continue to be successful and God will continue to work through us.  Dobranoc! Good night!

Oh, I did learn how to count to ten!  Jeden, Dwa, Trzy, Cztery, Piec, Szesc, Siedem, Osiem, Dziewiec, Dziesiec!

Czesc!

Czesc!  Hi!  This is day 2 of the Day Camp for kids in Warsaw.  I am loving it here and enjoying every minute.  I taught my Bible Story today and it went really well.  The kids participated and had great responses.  We have had close to 50 kids come and participate as well as some parents.  I was in charge of recreation/sports yesterday and will continue to do that the rest of the week.  I have really enjoyed learning the language here.  Although it is the hardest thing I have ever tried to learn.  They said that Polish is the 3^rd hardest language behind Chinese and another form of Chinese.  I will have to agree.  The Polish people here have been teaching me and helping me and they say that I am doing well.  I will only be here a week, but I love a challenge and this language is fascinating.  Jak sie masz?  How are you?  Dobrze. Fine.  The thing that it hard is that their letters say different sounds than ours.  For example, J says y and w says v.  They don’t have a q.  Anyway, I have learned how to say 4 colors so far and want to learn to count to 10 as well.  Red=Czerwony  Blue=niebieski  Yellow=Zolty and Green=Zielony.  We had a chance to talk to one of the Baptist Ministers here and also a Polish guy who has recently been saved.  You cannot believe the way things are over here.  Baptists or Evangelicals are viewed as a cult here.  Majority of people are Polish Catholic.  They believe they are saved by the church and not by the grace of God.  The older generations believe it is a sin to even go to another church.  They know nothing about having a relationship with Christ.  They don’t even understand the concept.  They believe you go to church and to mass and you are saved.  The people are scared and fear the priest.  People don’t read the Bible at home.  Some believe that only the Catholic Priest can read it.  Also, the Catholics only read and know the New Testament.  The missionaries and the ministers of the Baptist Church over here are praying for a change in their country.  This camp has been a great way to show this community that we are not a cult and show them the love of Jesus and that you can have a relationship with Him.  The children are learning about Jesus’ miracles, His life, and what He did/does for us.  Pray that we will begin to break down walls and be able to reach some of these people. 

Tonight we are going on a City Search or a Hunt.  We are breaking up into groups and we have a list of 6 places/things we must find.  I am excited and I think it will be fun.  It’s nap time for me again.  I do think that I am finally starting to feel normal again!  The time change was very hard, but it is getting better.  Oh, FYI, Polish food is…….ummmmm…….strange.  I have had a few good things, but for the most part it is different.  More to come later.  Dowidzenia!  Goodbye! 

Warsaw Day 2

Loved Day Camp today with the kids!  I have really enjoyed learning their language, but I have to admit it is extremely hard.  Tomorrow I am teaching a lesson to the kids on "Jesus Feeds the 5,000."  I am a little nervous because, while I am a teacher, I have never taught a lesson to people who couldn't understand me!  IT will be harder because I obviously have to wait for our translator.  So please pray that all goes well tomorrow.  Tonight we went into the city and did a little sightseeing.  We saw a few palaces and the National Soccer Stadium where the EURO cup took place.  We went to a roof top garden and got to see a wonderful view of the city.  It was a lot of fun.  While I have been here I have ridden 5 different types of transportation.  A train, tram, bus, metro, and car.  And trust me, they are all very different.  I have never seen so many people before and a city so busy and loud.  It is very interesting to just sit and watch people.  We are doing a "City Search" game tomorrow with an English Club from Poland.  I have really enjoyed getting to know the Polish workers in our group.  They are nice and are very helpful.  :)  I'll let you know more tomorrow.  So far, it's been a great trip!

Poland

I have made it to Poland and I am tired.  I lost a night of sleep on the flight over here and now I am 7 hours ahead in time.  So, it is 7 in the morning at home, but it is 2 in the afternoon here.  Big adjustment.  I hope by tomorrow I will be caught up.  It is very different here in Warsaw.  First, this city is huge. Close to 4 million people I believe.  Second, I cannot understand a word anyone says or read what anything says.  It is frustrating.  I have a new respect for people that come to America and can't speak our language.  Polish people dress very differently than we do.  It's hard to explain, but it is very eccentric is most cases.  Warsaw's city symbol is a mermaid.  She has a shield for protection and a sword to fight off any attackers.  There is a giant mermaid statue in the middle of the city.  Or as they call it, the "centrum."  The sun comes up around 4:00 a.m. and sets around 10:00 p.m.  It is wild.  They seem to love ice cream here.  I promise you there is an ice cream shop/store on every block.  They love Coke Zero here and they have it in every restaurant, which of course, makes me very happy.  :)  We are going to start the children's camp tomorrow and we will do it through Friday.  Going to take a nap now to try to catch up!

New

I haven't posted in 4 years!  Wow.  A lot has changed since then.  We have moved to Dothan after living in B'ham for 4 years.  We both wanted to be closer to family after having Grace.We have been living here for 2 1/2 years now.  I got the first job I interviewed for, K teacher at Kelly Springs, and Ray got a job soon after.  He is a Financial Rep for Cotton States Insurance.  Our house is STILL for sale in B'ham which is depressing.  We had it on the market for 2 years and finally decided to rent it out.  Grace is now 5 years old and starts Kindergarten in the fall at Kelly Springs.  Not much else to add right now.  Oh, I will be leaving in 3 days to go to Poland/France on a Mission Trip with my church.  I am VERY nervous, but excited.  I've never flown or been that far away.  It is an 8.5 hour flight to Paris from ATL and then another 2.5 to Warsaw from Paris.  I will be gone from this Friday, June 29th until Monday, July 9th.  I have to admit I am worried about leaving Grace and Ray for that long.  Thank goodness for Skype!  I will be blogging from Warsaw and Paris with updates. 

Auburn

Since we have season tickets we have been going to all the Auburn games. Grace really enjoys it...she has been going to Auburn games since she was about 9 weeks old!! This year has been so fun though because she can walk and talk and really knows what is going on. At the LSU game she sat in the stands for most of the game and would clap when everyone else would and got so excited! It was great. The nice thing is we can take her to the letterman lounge if she gets too hot or tired to watch the game. She enjoys tailgating as much as we do and when we play cornhole she gets excited and starts clapping. She is such a joy! She of course wears a little orange cheerleader outfit and is precious.

Speaking of Auburn, I am so sick of people talkig about how bad we suck. Yes, we are struggling, but we just got this new offense coordinator and are learnign the spread and it is going to take time. I get upset and I hate watching us play so pitiful, but this is a transition period. I am a fan, a loyal fan, and I will always love and support my Auburn Tigers no matter what. We are 4-1. Not too bad, but it is about to get a lot harder. Everyone is already giving up on us and it makes me mad...you know I expecially get ticked off at Bama fans. They think they have the Nat'l title won already. Uh, hello, you still have to play LSU, MSU, Ole Miss, and AUBURN! You better not count your chickens before they hatch. Yeah, Bama is good right now, but we have ALL seen how quick the season can change...i.e. USC v. Oregon State. Also, they are making fun of how bad we are and everything...umm does no one recall the past 2 years?? There records were 6-6 and 6-6 regular season. I am just tired of hearing it. Everyday all I hear is Bama=Nat'l Champs '08 and Auburn=the worst team ever. GET OVER IT!!! We are not even half way through the season! And even if we do lose the rest of the games...I will still bleed Orange and Blue! WAR EAGLE!!!!!!

Grad School

Well, I found out yesterday that I got in to UAB graduate school!!!! I am so excited! I will be the first person in my family to have a Master's. It feels great to know that in a little over a year I will be a teacher! I am so happy and cannot wait to be done. I have to take 12 classes and intern/student teach an entire semester. I hope to be done with classes by august 2009 and then intern that fall and graduate in December 2009. But we will see. It may be May 2010 before I can graduate. Either way I will be done and a teacher. It is very exciting. :)

It's been a while!

Well, its been months. I have been very busy. I have started back to school. I am going to UAB to get my masters in Elementary Education. I have been taking three classes this summer and it has been crazy. I had to observe in a kindergarten class for a week and it was so fun. I really want to teach and I cannot wait! It will take about a year to complete the program. Grace just celebrated her ONE year birthday! It was so fun and she had such a good time. Ray and I are going to celebrate our THREE year anniversary in a couple of weeks. We are taking an anniversary vacation at the beach and I cannot wait!! We leave July 24 and we have about two weeks to go. Things are great around here. We have lots to do the next 7 weeks. Then it is football season!

Scared

Ray went away on business again. He will be gone for the whole week. I had to stay by myself last night and I have to admit, I was scared. I just don't like being alone in the house at night. It freaks me out. I don't know why. I guess it is because my house is bigger than what I am used to and it has an upstairs and downstairs....lots of places for people to hide! Plus, we are kinda out from town. There are woods across the street that animals can come from. I have seen foxes and stray dogs, which freak me out. Luckily I have a garage I can pull in! Otherwise, I would be totally freaked out! I know I am a sissy, but I cannot help it. It is only at night too. Hopefully I can get over this! It's hard though.

Baby Grace

Grace is 9 months old. I cannot believe it. She is crawling, pulling up, trying to stand on her own....ah! Where did the time go? She is such a busy girl. She is so wonderful. I really don't know what I did without her for so long. She had a great Easter. We had an Easter egg hunt at Ray's parents house and at my parents house. She really wasn' t that interested. :) It was fun for us though. She did like holding the eggs! She goes to the Doctor tomorrow for her 9 month check up. I am excited to see how much she weighs and how long she is! We are going to Auburn this weekend for the spring A-day game. We are excited for that. I have got to baby proof the house more now that she is everywhere and into everything! It is crazy how big she is. I really just look at her and she grows! It is going by too fast!

Home

We are home from vacation, unfortunately. It was so fun! Gatlinburg was very redneck....lol.....it changed a lot from when I was a kid. It was still amazing though. We did a lot of stuff. We rode horses through the Nat'l park and that was amazing. We saw several deer on the path and that just made Ray's day. It was beautiful. I am sad to be home because it was so relaxing. Our cabin was amazing. It was literally on top of the mountain overlooking the smokies....breathtaking. We had a covered porch with rockers...talk about relaxation. We also had a hot tub. SOOOOOO nice. I did well....I didn't cry once about Grace. I guess it was because we stayed busy the whole time. I did go crazy on the trip home because I was so ready to see her. When we got home it was great holding her! I missed her! She is crawling now! It is great. She is just growing up before my eyes!

Vacation

Ray, Adam, Kristin, and I are all going to Gatlinburg, TN on Saturday. We are staying for 4 days and 3 nights. I am SO excited! This will, however, be my first time away from Grace. So it is going to be hard. Ray's mom is coming to stay at our house and keep her. I know she will be in good hands. It will be nice to get some sleep....a full night's sleep! Wow, I haven't had that in over a year. I am pumped though about going to the mountains....I haven't been in like 10 years. My family used to go every year until my grandma got sick. Ray has not been to Gatlinburg so I am excited for him. I can't wait for it to get here! We leave in 4 days! YAY!

Love

Well, the other night I went home and decided that I wanted to cook something different and good for Ray. So I looked through some recipe books and finally found one that sounded good. So I looked through my pantry and wrote down the things I needed. I went to the store and got the needed ingredients and went home to cook the dish. I was excited! So, Ray comes in around 6pm and says that he got called back to work for something. He said he wouldn't be long and I hadn't even started to bake it yet. So I said okay and thought he would be home by 7pm. Well around 8:30 pm I was getting furious. I already ate some and decided that I was going to give him a nice talking to when he got home. I called and called and got only voicemail. Then I remembered that he said he phone was dying. So around 8:40 I called the guy I knew he was with. Turns out, he was already almost home (he lives near us) and said Ray should be home any minute, but to call if he wasn't home by 9. He said that they also had a disaster at work and blah, blah, blah....whatever. So at 9pm I started getting really worried. Then I FREAKED.....what if he had wrecked? What is he was broke down in that bad neighborhood he travels through and got shoot! (Okay I have officially turned into my mother!) So I stand by the window looking to the road. Watching, waiting. One car comes, not him, another, and another.....I am crying at this point. Then I start to pray again. Finally, around 9:15ish he is home. I go into the living room and just sit on the couch crying. He walks in with tulips! I just started crying. I was so worried that something had happened to him. I was so relieved. He apologized and I accepted. I was just happy he was home and alive. He then warmed the dinner I made and loved it. He took it to work the next day! So, all is well....thank goodness!

Blog

Well, after long consideration and being harassed by friends to get one, I have finally given in and created this blog. So, this is my blog spot. Where I will "blog" when I feel like it. Nice. I am now officially a "blogger." I conformed.