My drive to work again. South florida, with her palm trees; so serene.
Sunrise #16
Just a quick picture.
I usually go to work before the sun’s up, so today it was a real treat to see the sun on my drive in.
“Worst Blogger of All Time” Award
So.
I haven’t written anything here in over a year. I think that lands me the “Worst Blogger of All Time” award! Seriously, though, I’m sorry. As a lover of all writing experiences, and dragging people along with me on my crazy adventures, I’m surprised it took me so long to write again. Probably has something to do with being absolutely, ridiculously busy. For a while I was even working 6 days a week. But now that I have 2 days a week off again, I really have no excuse. Actually, I have never had an excuse. So I apologize. Now I will try, so hard, to update you very briefly on my life events over the last year.
I started dating an absolutely wonderful man. Remember my trips to Colombia? Well, after my second trip, I started a beautiful relationship with a Colombian man; we’ve been dating for over a year now. My trips to Colombia, obviously, have become more frequent – each one planting more desire for the country in my heart. I am now carrying out plans to move there after the holidays. My original plan was to move there before the new year, but getting a visa has proved more difficult than expected. Oh well. It will work out.
My sister went to school. I miss her a lot, but she is fulfilling her desire to serve others, and she is finding her call in life. I can’t wait to see what happens! I remember when I went to ministry school; it was the best year of my life (until this past year when I started dating Dani). I know this year of school and missions will change her life forever.
I’m poor. But, that mainly has to do with the fact that I spent, probably, about 400+ dollars on Christmas presents. Ashamed? Yep. Sorry? No. Christmas morning will be spectacular. That leads me to my next event (and my favorite).
My boyfriend is coming for Christmas! It will be our first Christmas spent together (in the same country; how exciting)! Also, my sister is coming home for Christmas. It will be the best Christmas ever! You can count on lots of photos, and hopefully lots of blog posts.
Last one: I’m gluten-free now. Yikes! It’s actually not as bad as I anticipated, but I would be lying if I said it was easy during the holidays. Oh man. Seeing all of the cookies, cakes, and yummy treats that I can’t indulge in, is difficult. Especially when I live in a gluten-filled home; being the only gluten-free person. But – I’ve never felt better, and all of my problems that came from all of the gluten are almost completely gone now. I’m sure I will be posting my ideas on eating gluten-free on here, as well.
That’s basically it. I could think of minor things, of course. Like being in the hospital twice from pneumonia and kidney problems. Recipes I never recorded on here, fun trips, new friends, future endeavors, excitement and let-downs. Well – let’s look toward the future, shall we? No more past talk. Here’s to what’s to come!
The agenda tonight? Work Christmas party!! I’ll try my best to take photos, but it will more than likely be too much fun to focus on photographing other people ;)
Sunrise #14 – Wake Up Call
The sun rises earlier now, and I’ve found it to be such a good wake up call. I like waking up early, and when I don’t set my alarm I wake up with the sun. It’s a good trade. I also kind of tend to think that the sunrises are more beautiful earlier in the morning (silly, I know). But here’s my most recent one:
2nd Trip to Colombia
Although I had traveled to Mexico before, I had never gone too far from the states. My first trip to Colombia in June opened my eyes to my love for South America. It’s kind of funny now, when I look back on my life goals, traveling to South America was NOT on that list. I never saw myself there, or even having any kind of passion for it. But now, as I’m sitting here writing about my favorite place on earth, I can’t even believe how much change I’ve gone through to get to this point in my life.
My 2nd trip to Colombia gave me a lot of perspective and insight for my life and future. I cannot even see a future without Colombia in it. I feel somehow spiritually connected to that place now, like God Himself has drawn me there.
On my first trip to Colombia, I thought it was just another place to explore and maybe meet new people, have something new to write about, etc. But it turned out to be so much more. It turned out to be a turning point for my life; a catalyst for change, and playing a very serious role in my future and relationships. As the next few months rolled on, and I got back into my “normal” routine in the states (work, family, writing, work work work), I couldn’t get Colombia out of my head. I began to feel a longing to be there again; to be among the people of Bogota, to see those people who changed my life. So I bought a ticket to Colombia for October 10-20.
I know this won’t be the first time I’ve said this, and I absolutely know it won’t be the last (because things can only keep getting better and better), but that trip totally changed my life. Spiritually, physically, emotionally, relationally; in almost every way imaginable. I’m not very good at explaining how I feel verbally, but I can do it pretty well when I write; so this blog post is dedicated to my family/friends of Colombia! I couldn’t really tell you how much you all mean to me (my terrible speaking skills, combined with the language barrier – well, you get it ;) so maybe you can gain a better understanding when you read this. I know most of you will be using google translate (I know, I use it too! It’s so great!), and maybe one day I will speak spanish so well, I will write an entire blog post just in spanish! Haha, anyway, back to the point -
I went into this trip expecting God to reveal Himself and His secrets to me, to resolve some relational problems with some people, and reveal important connections that I needed to make. He did all of that and more! He completely surprised me in every way, and I cannot thank Him enough for His faithfulness. God came to me every night, waking me up, or just being in the room with me, letting me feel His presence, revealing His nature to my seeking heart. I can’t tell you the experiences I had with Him (not all of them, anyway), but they were life changing and intimate. I feel so humbled that He approached me so closely on this trip. He is so good.
He also revealed Himself to me through relationships. The close, intimate conversations with friends, worship sessions, or just being with people who have Him inside of them. I fell in love with them, because they were in love with God. I got to see their hearts, and I was captivated by it. I know that my future is intertwined with theirs, somewhere down the road.
If you know me intimately (or through divine inspiration), you know that I feel a lot and see a lot more than I say. For me, this trip was more than I even have words for. I can’t even write it, and I’m usually good at that – but this feeling has no words. It’s kind of like gratefulness, but deeper. Kind of like admiration, but deeper. Maybe love – but even that word doesn’t feel like it does it justice. I know some of my Colombian friends were left wondering, when all I could say was “awww” or look as if I was about to burst into tears. But I just couldn’t convey to them my admiration for each one of them. They have become my family. Our connections are deeper now, more real. I feel like I’m just repeating myself, but I just don’t know what to say.
One thing I am immensely thankful for on this trip, was the constant welcome I felt from every person. Even though I hardly spoke a word of spanish, and I was incredibly white with crazy short hair, they made me feel like one of them. All the Papasito’s, mi hermanos, y mi hermanas. ;)
I don’t know how the future will look; marriage, living situations, relationships, family, jobs – I don’t know if any of those things will be in Colombia or not, but I feel that Colombia will forever be a part of my future somehow, whatever that looks like. God has set up divine relationships; relationships that will last forever, and only He knows the outcome – and whatever that outcome is, I embrace it wholeheartedly!
Not only was this a trip of awakening for my spirit, but it was also filled with a lot of fun and adventures! Too many adventures to count, or write about, so I’ll just share a few foto’s I took on the trip (my favorite ones):
It was a good trip :)
I can’t wait to see what happens next in my relationships with my beautiful Colombian family! God has a plan for these relationships! Only time will tell :)
Colombia
