Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!! :)

Well, hello there! Long time no see, huh? I can't believe it has been 21 days since I updated my blog! Things have been busy here.....not TOO busy, but busy. It has been hard for me to get back in the habit of writing on my blog. Sometimes I am tired, sometimes I have no inspiration, and sometimes I just don't want to deal with the computer. Anyway, I'm back (for the moment) so you better enjoy it. Ha! :)

Let's see.....what have I been up to? Hmm....two weeks ago, my Pastor and his wife went to visit a friend in Belgrade, Serbia and I watched three of their kids (ages 14, 11 & 9) and their dog, Moka, for the weekend. We had a fun time and it went well. The biggest scare I had was the morning Blake and Laura came home. Their bus got in around 7:30am and I had gotten up to let Moka out. I had not put her on her leash because sometime she gets so excited about going outside that she forgets that she is inside and pees on the floor. Anyway, we had gone outside and she ran away from me and wouldn't come back. So I called her. Nothing. She had gone over a little hill next to their house and I couldn't follow because I was still in my slippers. (btw, it was FREEEEEEZING cold outside) I continued to call her and she continued to not come to me. Oh man! I had ALMOST made it the whole weekend without a crisis and now, 30 minutes before the Weir's were coming home, I lose the dog. Back upstairs I went to put on my shoes and begin the search. Thankfully, miraculously, as I was putting on my shoes, in walks Moka. Halelujah! I don't think I'd ever been happier to see that dog! :)

Hmm....what else, what else? Ah, yes, this past week I have been sick. Tonsilitis. Yuck!! I wasn't feeling well on Monday and went to the doctor. My ears were bothering my too and he gave me some ointment for them and Claritin for my allergy. Tuesday I felt worse. By Wednesday I was out. My throat HURT! I had that feeling that it wasn't just a "normal" cold. I looked at my throat and saw some lovely white things on my tonsils. Fun times. Another trip to the doctor. He took one look at my throat and said, "You have an infection." Actually, it was in Croatian so something more along the lines of, "Imas infectiju" (nesto tako). :) Anyway, he prescribed a lovely antibiotic for me to take twice daily for seven days. When I got home, I started having more congestion and coughing some. Needless to say, I didn't sleep so well that night and on Thursday was out of it again. My friend Bethany gave me some Tylenol Cold medicine (the night-time kind) and that made me up a little loopy. heehee. Yesterday, I went to my Croatian class, still not feeling soooo great. By the time I got home I was wiped out. After lunch, I laid down around 3pm and fell asleep for about three hours. If Bethany hadn't started talking to me, I would have slept even longer. It is a good thing she did, though because I would have woken up at midnight and been up for the night. Today, I am feeling MUCH better. :)

How could I forget?! Last night a wonderful thing happened! It snowed in Split, Croatia!! At least one inch, maybe more. Woohoo!! Bethany and I (ok....Bethany is was staying with me and Jen because she is in the process of finding an apartment and, btw, Jen is in Rome. She went there to meet her family and they are coming back on the boat from Ancona tonight and will arrive in the morning! cool!) umm...oh, yes...Bethany and I were watching Schindler's List (I hadn't seen it before) and at the end she got a message from a friend that it was snowing outside. She opened up the window and yes, to our wonderful surprise, it was actually snowing! We were so excited, we got bundled up and went out to enjoy the snow. It was beautiful! HUGE flakes of snow were falling - amazing! Especially in Split. :) We took our pictures under a palm tree covered in snow and made a snowman. Too fun!! Then we went back inside to warm up. Since I am recovering from a cold, I stayed in, but Bethany went to meet some friends and made a couple more snowmen and took some more pictures. What a blast!!

Ok, so those are some highlights of the past three weeks. I really will try to not let it happen again that it is sooo long between posts. But, you know what? You could really help me out my posting a comment on here.....cuz I am curious to know who you are....you people who read my blog - remember, I'm watching you. heehee. :)

Getting to know you, getting to know all about you

Since you are all just dying to know me better, here is another chance.....heehee. And of course, you should leave a comment with your answers. Especially if you sometimes read my blog but don't ever leave a comment. Whoever you are, you really should leave a comment. :)

My answers are in bold.
Tile or carpet
Pencil or pen
Laptop or PC
Dog or cat
Past or future
Dark or light (hair) ....tall dark and handsome to be exact....heehee
Dark or light (beer)
Wine or beer (actually, since being in Croatia, I have acquired more of a taste for wine)
Pancakes or French toast
Turkey or ham
TV or movie
Seinfeld or Friends
VHS or DVD
Driver or passenger (baby, you can drive my car....if I had one)

I am falling....part 2 :) oh, the fun just doesn't stop!

So, that brings us to Friday - New Year's Eve! We had a great day of teaching and fellowship...I was sad to see the conference come to an end. But the fun was no where near being over. Oh, also, I got to sing on Friday night with my friend, Marin, who has a great voice. :) And Jonathon (a guy in Sarajevo) and Hrvoje played guitar for us. It was fun, that sining. *wink* Anyway, after the meeting on Friday night, we set up for the party. All the chairs were cleared out to make a dance floor and with the lights turned low we began to dance the night away to some great Croatian and American 80's music. Around 11:30pm, we all head into town to bring in the new year. It was so cool! We arrived just in time to hear this Macadonian guy sing the song he sang for Euro-Song, "Life"....at least I think that is the name. We pushed our way into the crowd and actually got to catch a glimpse of him. :) Then it was time to count down...10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.....Sretna nova godina!!!! (Happy New Year!) Woohoo! Handshakes and kisses all around! More singing and some pictures, then time to get back to the Kairos center for more dancing!! The 80's theme turned a little and we got to play some country music and do some line dancing. I even got to dance the two-step. After more dancing, we all gathered around to exchange gifts through a fun gift-exchange game where you can steal gifts that other people have opened. It was so fun! I ended up getting a Sarajevo style winter hat, even though many people tried to prevent me from getting one by always stealing from me. :) Hmm...let's see....so, when the game was done, we chatted and mingled a bit and then started a movie, "The Terminal". I had already seen it and didn't want to watch it again, so I was going to go to bed then ended up having a great chat with Dejan, a guy from Sarajevo. You may be wondering what the name "Dejan" means, well I found out the best and most accurate meaning is "really funny guy from Sarajevo". Haha!! At five-something in the morning, it was time for bed.

Even though I hadn't had much sleep, I woke up around 11am - I was just too excited to be in Sarajevo to stay in bed. Our last day - I had to make it count. We packed up and left the center around 1pm. Josko, Lidija and Bethany made a yummy brunch for us and then we played Mao - an insane card game. As the day wore on, I knew I had to get back into town before leaving that night at 9:30pm. So, me, Marin, Bojan and some other guys walked into town. I really wanted to buy a silver necklace for a cross I had, but didn't think any shops would be opened. However, I was so happy to find a jewelry shop open and I bought a silver chain. How exciting! :) Then we ate cevapi one last time and I got some burek for the busride home. Oh, yes, we also squeezed in one last coffee before going back to the guys' place. When we arrived back, it was time to walk over to the bus station and go back to Split. :( The bus ride home was good and I was so thankful the Brent's drove us all home....we arrived in Split around 3:30am.

It was an amazing trip and I am SOOOO thankful I got to go. My first time ringing in the new year in a foriegn country and surely not my last. Also, certainly not my last trip to Sarajevo, but only the beginning. :)

I am falling, I am falling in love...

....or fell in love, actually. With a city, that is. Sarajevo was amazing. It was one of those trips that meets and exceeds your hopes and expectations for a not only a great time, but an incredible time. Although it didn't seem to get off to such a great start with me missing my bus, the seven hour bus ride there was actually quite relaxing. When I arrived at the church/conference center, I was greeted by a familiar face. Ana, a girl I had met in Dubrovnik over a year ago works there. It is so cool how God works out all of the details in our lives.

The first night we had a short meeting together and then I went to bed early to get some much needed rest. On Wednesday morning we had breakfast, prayer, and the morning session. Every morning session was divided into two parts. The first part was teaching from Acts and discussion groups, and then the second part was doing what is called a "Life Map". Basically it is looking back over your life and remembering the significant events, people, places, etc that influenced shaped who you are. It helps to look and see the ways God has worked throughout your life, even in difficult circumstances. After the morning sessions, we had lunch and then free time until dinner around 6:30pm. On Wednesday, a group of us walked into the center of town. We enjoyed the walk by the river, soaking in the sights of Sarajevo. The old buildings, the beautiful surrounding hills, mosques, cathedrals, stone walkways, buildings with bullet holes, remnants of the war. After a quick taxi ride back to the Kairos Center, we had dinner and the evening session (more teaching on Acts). Then, we headed back into town for another dose of the city. That evening on our walk to town, my prayer was answered. It began to snow! Breathtaking. By the next morning, the city was covered in a light blanket of about an inch of snow (maybe less). My friend, Bethany and I got up and ready as soon as we could so we could go outside and play in the snow. She is from Michigan, so we shared the appreciation for a good snowball fight and I got to make a snow angel, well, sort of. :) After breakfast and our morning session, a group of us went into town for lunch. And what do you think we ate? Well, cevapi, of course. It is like sausage served in this great bread with kamak...some sort of cheese or yoghurt or something. Anyway, it is yummy, and they have a unique style of cevapi in Sarajevo. After lunch, Vjenci, one of the guys from Split, and I walked around trying to find a gift for the gift exchange we were having at the New Year's Eve party. I didn't find a gift to buy, but I did find this cool pillow cover that I bought for myself. :) Fun times. Then we enjoyed the nice walk back to the center.

So, I have some more that I want to write, but it will have to wait….I know you are so excited to hear ALL about it….haha!!