Refocused

It's been over three years and I am back.  Back to determining what's next, back to living life to the fullest everyday and analyzing what's next at the close of each night. Back to writing my feelings down and making things concrete.  It's time to start make things happen instead of just thinking about it.  

I am feeling a peace about the direction I am going.  Even though I am unaware of what life will look like 3 months from now.  I am ready for anything life throws my way.  This year I have been focused on the people in my life, the way I am spending my free time, and the direction I am headed.  I am intentional in my actions. 

Today, my bible study was about being more Christ like.  How can I integrate Christ into my everyday life?  How can I resemble his character and unconditional love?  John 15:5  “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."  This year I plan to bear much fruit.  I will live more Christ like.  I will make a difference in how I live my life and to those in my life.  To this I will commit.

7 Months Later

It has been seven months to the day since I have added to this collection of random thoughts. I don't want to think about everything that has happened, by I have to, it is a part of life. Four days after my last blog my brother-in-law passed away. It was horrible to be there and I can still picture it like it was yesterday. I had a week and a half to plan the memorial service. Started my new job two days later. And into this new world I dove.

This summer has flown by! Besides being there for my family, I have fled to the world of fantasy - bonfires every weekend, vball 3 to 4 times a week, tennis, salsa dancing, working, working and working some more. But what next? I am finally getting back to reality. Granted, I just turned 30, but it has been coming to this point for the last month. How am I spending my time? Who am I spending my time with? Where is my walk with God? Where do I see myself in 6 months?

My roommate is also moving out in 5 weeks and a new one moving in. I am changing my vball team for the winter league. It will be interesting to play with people I barely know. My life is like a revolving door. I have a solid 5 friends in my life, with others coming in and going out, one day to return. I need to make sure that I have a solid foundation, but this last year has rocked the boat. I am glad it is winter. It is making me slow down and think about life. Me time!! Very important...

Hopefully my next post will be more of a revelation of what is next to come. But I am making it a focus. Really all I want to do in life is make a difference. I just want to make sure I am on the right track!!

Reflection

I am sitting here thinking how everything seems to be lining up and contemplating the direction my life is going.

At the end of last year, the earthly things that I found strength in disappeared from my life. Starting in November, I stopped talking to the guy I was seeing, was informed I was losing my job, lost my roommate, and found out my brother-in-law was battling cancer. These are all things I have been dealing with the last few months...

After months of job searching, this past Monday I was offered a job in Taylor (a mile from my parents) starting April 6th. Then in the afternoon, found out my brother-in-law's test results put him into hospice, knowing he could pass any day. It's been an emotional 4 months, and now I am seeing our families go through this and today watched my sister hold her husband's hand as he laid there, not ready to let him go.

I know there is a reason for everything and know that God has put me back in Taylor to be there for my family. I just hope that I find a way to still live my life through all of this... It is important to be there for my family, I just don't want to lose myself while I am doing it. I will continue to pray for strength and God's wisdom in my life.

Life of the Unemployed

I'm starting to lose track of the days. It has been 51 days since I have been unemployed. Can't believe it is already February. Groundhogs day!! Hmmm, wonder if he saw his shadow, or should I say she? :)

Anyway, I still feel like most days are Saturdays, well, except Sundays. I need a day off a week, and I took full advantage of it yesterday! After only 6 hours of sleep on Saturday night, I took a nap in the afternoon. Well, that and I am tired of the feeling that I have no control over my life right now and sleeping makes that feeling go away... Hmmm, yeah...more about that later.

So, when I first got laid off, I was going to wake up every morning, work out, take a shower and head to the coffee shop to job search and then read the book of the week. Well, let's just say it hasn't really happened that way. It is too busy and I can't seemed to get organized. I am falling into "what do I have motivation for today" from the first second I wake up. Even this morning, I woke up at 7:30 and headed to the gym. I have already checked email and am now blogging. But what will be next? Shower, breakfast and Caribou? We shall see..

I have done a lot of brainstorming lately, what do I want to do, are their jobs in michigan, where would I want to move if I can't find a job here and what will it be doing? Here are some of the things I came up with:
- Started to redo my resume and coverletter for every position that is a potential to make it a better fit based on my skillset.
- Need to continue working on my functional resume and figuring out what I really want to do when I grow up.
- Looked back into the option of working at a Resort on the water or a ranch doing some sort of business/marketing function - found some pretty interesting positions.
- Looking into getting my PMP (Project Management Perfessional) Certification. For now, I just purchased the study book for the exam, but need 35 credits and a little more experience before I could be certifed. http://www.pmi.org/CareerDevelopment/Pages/AboutPMIsCredentials.aspx
- Found a website with free courses online, so due to my financial situation, this will help me keep my brain sharp and continue learning. http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Sloan-School-of-Management/index.htm
- Looked into taking massage therapy classes. Also, need to look into State grant money to help change careers. http://www.michigan.gov/mistudentaid/0,1607,7-128-38193_39939-134688--,00.html

Besides work related tasks, I am also trying to figure out the best way to use this time off. I am going to Florida next week for 3 days to reset myself and get a little Vitamin D :) I am also trying to find a cheap/cheaper vacation for March with one of my friends, to get a little more sunshine and water. Been searching the internet like crazy.

As far as being productive, I am trying to reorganize my house and get rid of some junk. I am also trying to figure out a schedule to start volunteering again, reading more books, getting back into my books for bible study, and of course reading the bible. All this being said, I am still trying to have a social life, play vball, and salsa dance :)

My only issue right now is lack of control, as much as I brainstorm and think and try to put life back together. I need to make sure that I am letting God have his hand in all of this. He know what is best for me, he will work everything out, but it has been a struggle because I am waiting for direction and don't want to go too far in one direction to realize that I am lacking peace.

Yes, this is the life of the unemployed. Too much time to think, too much time to do things, too much time to spend money I don't have. But not enough time to do all of it. Life was a lot easier when I had a job.... But I can't wait to see where this path will lead!! :)

2009 is here!

I can't believe I haven't posted in over a month! I have had so many ideas and thoughts that I wanted to get out but I have not set aside time to do it. Kinda crazy! So, life is going very well right now, even though it has its hickups. After I got laid off, I took a road trip for a couple weeks which allowed me to reset myself. I have spent a lot of time looking for a job, redoing my resume, cover letter, and just figuring out what the next step is going to be. In the meantime, I have spent quality time with friends, had a few dates here and there, started playing vball on Sundays which has been kicking my butt, and am continuously reorganizing my house and my life.

My alarm goes off every morning at 8:00 and I get ready to start my day. I feel like everyday is a Saturday and that I still have a job. It's really weird! I have been very productive so far, and feel like there is just too much to do. Working out, reading, job searching, job fairs, shoveling snow, fixing food, helping out family, and starting to reorganize my whole house, what a project! I think I could get used to this no job thing...Hopefully I won't need to for long! I have had one interview with a possible position, and one phone interview that I am not really sure if it will go anywhere or if I even want it too.

I am glad there is such thing as unemployment, especially in the economy! I can't believe how bad it is right now. Can barely get through to UIA or Marvin, almost everytime I call the lines are busy or the system is just overloaded. It's a sad time.

But I am in high spirits and I'm trying not to let anything get me down right now. Optimism is the key. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and pushing forward. The only problem is that I feel like time is flying!

The snow is falling!

The snow is falling and is beautiful outside this morning :) It makes me happy and now adays anything that makes me happy is a good thing. If you know what's going on in my life, you can understand why. It seems like I get some type of bad news everyday. Some things I have control over and others I don't. The ones that I have control over, I am working to fix. Those I don't, I am continuing to pray about. God will open doors and close them as well.

For those of you:
- Who are losing your jobs: This is just the next step in your life. Remember change is good! Change is also hard.. Pray about what God's next step is for you.

- Who has a family member who is critically ill: Be there for them, go out of your way to touch their lives, Pray for them AND with them. Remember that Family comes first and we all know that sickness and death are very hard to deal with.

- Who have miscarried: It is hard to lose a baby, but there is a reason that your body does not allow it to be born. May God be with you during this time.

- Who suffers from depression: Find the root of it, determine why it happens, learn not to depend on others for your happiness, find the little things in life that will make you happy. Trust in God that he will get you through it.

- Who have an addiction: It takes at least 21 days to get over an addiction. It is hard to stay away from it, not think about it, and not easy to let it happen again. Everytime you think about it, pray about it instead of dwelling on it. Your life will be better without it.

- Who have lost a relationship with a loved one or friend: There is a reason that everyone is in your life for a period of time. You can learn something from them, you may make mistakes, but try to see the good from the relationship and make sure not to make the same mistakes again. Treasure those moments that you spent with that person. Also take time to mourn for the loss, make sure that you process it and not just move on without dealing with it. Just remember that you only have so much room in your heart. You can now give more quality time to others and new people will enter your life in time.

Just remember to let God be your Rock and your strength. He is our heavenly father who loves us very much and he will provide.

Ann Arbor Adventures

What do I do when I have a day off? I spent it outside as often as possible.

I had last Tuesday off for voting day, so after I voted, I headed out to Ann Arbor. My first stop was Starbucks to get my free cup of coffee and catchup on my email.

Then, I headed to the many little shops along Main and Liberty. It was nice and relaxing :) I even ran into my co-worker Brian as I was wondering the streets.

Since it was too beautiful to be inside, I headed to the arb. I walked through the park, up and down the paths and to the Huron river. While I was wandering, I foung a fuzzy little caterpillar :)



Then I found an awesome park bench where I read and took a nap :) Well I didn't actually sleep, just rested my eyes and soaked up the sun!




I found tree #57 and I entitled this tree "Putting my life in the hands of God" I felt like it was a hand engolfing me. It was amazing :)



Then I ended the evening with a Hot Chocolate at Biggby with my friend Ben :)



It was the perfect day!

Let it snow!

Let it snow! It was a beautiful day outside today :) The big huge snow flakes falling from the sky... As soon as I got out of church, I put on my snow gear and headed out the door. I drove down to Detroit to help out with the Homeless BBQ. To join a group of people with the same purpose in mind. To get to know the people in Detroit. To join their society for a day. To take food to them, to serve them, to bless them. All this, while the snow fell! It was a great experience. I'm glad that I was able to spend this snowy day outside in the middle of Detroit. Sitting around a hot coal-burning fire keeping warm. Woo hoo! Then I went home and made a big pot of chili :) It was a great day! Restful, relaxing and ready to start another week.

Next Step

So, tomorrow is the start of another week. Another week to think of what I want to do with my life. To back track, 2 weeks ago, my roommate informed me she was moving out. I immediately posted an ad for a roommate. 10 days ago I was informed that my job is ending in Dec. I went home on Thursday night, thinking I was going to rent my house, move to DC and get a new job and live a life of high energy. On Friday, I talked to my "new" roommate who is moving here from California. Friday night, I started senting my resume to all my friends in Michigan with possible leads, old co-workers, searching indeed.com and various company sites where I had contacts for job posting. Within a week, I had two interviews and am waiting for a job offer within the next week. Talk about the fast track to the next phase of my life.

In the meantime, I put things into God's hand thanking him for opening doors. But am I moving to fast to really listen. Am I just so worried about getting everything back into place. I don't want to live off of the government. Unemployement? I don't want to settle into the life of unemployement. Should I continuously search for a job in all my spare time? If I receive a job offer this week and it looks good, should I take it? What will my life look life if I take the job? They asked if travel would be an issue? As much as I love to travel, do I really want to stay the night in hotels? It might be more travel in the beginning, with more conference calls as time goes on. I don't know... But I felt a real energy and high after the interview. Maybe it will be a good next step.

What do I really want to do? To be honest, I am a procrastinator and the longer I wait to figure out what I want to do, the less energetic I will become about it. I keep running in circles.

Well, this week I get to focus on training my replacement....At least I am in a better place than last week. At least this week, when she asks me what I am going to do next, it won't emotionally hit me like it did last Monday. I am in a better place, with a better job in line. I need life to be mixed up a little :)

What do I wanna do when I grow up?

So, I am at the point in my life where I need to decide what I want to do when I grow up...

It has been a little crazy at GM lately, not knowing what rumors were true. Well, last Friday 6 people got laid off in my dept. Where there more coming? With as bad as GM has been doing I am assuming as much..

Well, on Thursday at 11:15, my direct boss asked if he and my other boss could talk to me for a few minutes. In my head I was thinking, am I being spared and listed as "strategic" or are they telling me that the fight for my job was at an end. Choice #2 is correct.. They had no choice, they did not want to lose me, but since I was contract, I was considered headcount. I am not a real person. However, I greatly respect my boss. He only had to give me a two week notice, but he just wanted to give me a heads up, so I has more time to start looking for a job. At that point, he knew that it would be sometime in Dec. Later on he came back and said Dec 15.

The good thing about my bosses and the work that I have done, is that they both said that they would pass on my resumes to our suppliers (energy, not auto) and would help me out in any way they could. They would even give me a recommendation letter.

So, now I have to decide what direction I want to go in. Do I take more time to find the "perfect" job in this economy or do I create three different resumes to show the three different skill sets and look for positions in all these areas. The only problem right now is that I found one company with 6 different positions that I want to apply for and one area is in the finance realm and the other in the Program Management. Two different set of skills... But I found a company in Michigan that is growing and hiring! And I know people that will hand deliver my resume! Hurray :)

I always thought it would be cool to be laid off, so I could go travel and play for a few months, but my cash liquidity is low, my mutual funds have all take 40-50% hits, michigan economy is bad, and unemployment is going to hit hard this month, and it is winter, so unless I go to Brazil....it's a little cold to be walking around Europe.. Oh, and no health insurance! I just wish I could secure a job in Jan and then I could go play for a month.

But needless to say, I will be updating my resume, and job searching for the next month, and of course, praying for direction!!!

Familar face..

All my life, I have remembered faces. I have a hard time with names or sometimes placing people. I have had conversations with people and its taken time to figure out how I knew them. However, most the time I see a person and immediately know.

So, I went out on Thursday to the Motor City Casino for a live Latin night in their hotel club. It was awesome, I was having a good time and about half way through the night, I saw this guy. Tall, dark and handsome. I knew I knew him, but couldn't figure out how. I was trying to figure it out, I even talked to my two friends about it trying to rack my brain. I was just about to approach him when I realized he was about to escort his "drunk" friend out. I asked him in passing if I knew him and he said no....

It finally hit me last night. He is a TV star on one of the new series. I looked him up and found his bio. I talked to my friend and she said after I left, he came back and they talked to him. Crazy, the very little TV that I watched and I felt like I knew him.

It's kind of interesting how we mix reality with "make-believe". Our brain sometimes plays tricks on us. What feelings and emotions are real? Our mind tends to lead us in one direction and sometimes our hearts lead us in another. I think we also tend to assume things based on previous knowledge or experience. Boy, how that can change the way we act and the things we do.

So, be warned about the dangers of the make-believe world. Things are not always the same in real life... Try living in the real world, not watching it on TV or through the stories of others!

Simple Little Pleasures

Tonight, there is a full moon and it is absolutely amazing outside! I just got done with bible study and threw my tennis shoes on and hit the side walk... When I moved here, I mapped out a two mile run and whenever I just want to get outside and get a little exercise in, I run through my neighborhood to this park about 2/3 mile away. With all the leaves falling, I kept hearing the crunching of the leaves as I jogged through the park. It was the perfect night to go running :) I just listened to worship music on my ipod, as I ran and reflected on life. It was so peaceful and the perfect way to end this longggg day! I wished this weather was here to stay. Nice sunny days and cool nights, but I know it is too good to be true. It is going to be cooling off by the end of the week.. Perfect for the apple orchard. I can't wait to go pick some apples and make an apple pie! Ah, life is great with all its simple little pleasures :)

6 more days...

So my bday is in 6 days! I love my birthday! I usually celebrate for weeks, sometimes even the whole month :) But this year it is different.. I'm not totally excited about it. I don't want to plan anything, and this year, I don't have a co-hort to plan it with. Normally I just go to Chicago or something and then everything just falls into place. But this year, I have to decide what I want to do and who I want to do it with and start making phone calls and plans. Yeah, no thanks...

It seems like every time I have an idea, it falls through. I want to go to the Apple Orchard, but no one else is really excited about it or is too busy, I want to do things that I have never done before, or things that I haven't done in a long time! But I want to do them with someone who had a passion for it. Like going golfing, or to the rifle range, or to Eastern Market, or ??? I want someone to get excited with me. Not anyone, but someone who I love to spend time with. But this year, most of my closest friends are busy and no one else really seems to care. And I wouldn't say "care", but I get the response, "Just let me know what you want to do and i'll see what I can do" instead I want the, "I'll pick you up at 10:00 and we will go here and do this and then that and take on the city!!" I want there to be someone who knows me and my thoughts, and can help me take on the world!!

On my birthday, I don't like gifts, I like memories. And those memories I want to share with my friends. These memories will be starting on Wed and will last until Sunday night. Here is to the almost 30!! But not quite yet ;) Next year baby!!

I have been blessed!

I have been blessed! I am just sitting here thinking of my life and that song is running through my head. I wake up with a smile on my face everyday and a peace in my heart. I have a house, a job, a car, great family, friends, good health...yeah, yeah, right? But even more than that, I live in a cute little city and can afford to pay my bills, my work is moving next week, so I only have a 5 mile drive instead of a 13 mile drive. I have great co-workers who I love to work with and look forward to each new task and how to conquer it. I just went to my sister's in DC and ended up driving home an old red T-top camaro in great condition. My new summer play toy! I can go visit my sisters and brothers whenever I want and love to spend time with them and hang out with my nieces and nephews! My mom and dad will be helping me replace my patio door and change the struts on my Grand Prix in the next couple weeks.. I just got tickets to go to today's UofM game for free and can't wait to spend the day in Ann Arbor.

I live every day as if it were my last. All this I give thanks to God! Without him I am nothing. I have people praying for me on a constant basis. My small groups are wonderful! As well as my friends and family. I believe it is God who as blessed me and I in turn want to bless others. I pray that I do not get caught up in material things and those things here on earth...

So, a little tangent..I had a dream the other day... I love to give, right? I never mind helping someone out if they ask... In real life, I needed to stop by my old work and pick something up this week, but since I don't live in the area, I asked a friend to do it and will be there today to get the envelope. Well, I dreamed about this scenerio. I felt bad for making my old co-worker John go out of his way, and for Ben to go out of his way to pick it up and be there for me today when I drive through town. I dreamed that everything fell apart. My co-worker was not happy about the inconvinience, Ben didn't have time and was getting nothing out of it, he wasn't at his house today when I was supposed to pick it up... I drove myself crazy in the dream, which lasted about 2 hours, waking up 4-5 times during the dream and not getting any sleep. I hate making other people go out of their way for me, even if I have helped them out tremendously in the past. I must learn to give as well as receive. I have the same problem with compliments. Yes, I have great self-confidence most of the time, but sometimes, I just don't think that I am the best I can be.....and have a hard time with it.

In the meantime (to get back to the topic), I am living a blessed life, and want to give all the glory and the honor to our creator! Let me live in peace and let me smile spread!

SVO vs biodiesel

Working in the energy field always makes me a little more interested in various forms of energy. Even though I work with sources related to production vs product, it didn't change the fact that this topic intrigued me.

When I was in Costa Rica a few months ago, Wayne (one of the missionaries) was driving around in a F-250. He was very well known because there were only a few trucks in the area. Most people has small cars. It is a very poor area, which makes the price of gas even more expensive. Well, come to find out, he had a SVO conversion on his truck. SVO is simply Straight Vegetable Oil. He has found a few key restaurants in the area that use oil for cooking, takes their used oil (for free), filters it, and pours it into his truck. He essentially is living off of free gas, that is except the diesel that he uses the last 5 minutes to purge the oil out of the line to keep it from cooling down and clogging. I thought this was quite interested. I also noticed that the ride was much quieter than diesel. Wayne said that the coversion had already paid itself off!

Since then, I have had two conversations about this topic. I was sitting in Starbucks a few weeks ago and ended up talking to a guy named Brandon about the this topic. After about 10 to 15 minutes I realized I didn't know enough about this technology, so I went home and started researching it. I found a company that specializes in these conversions and they have some great FAQs on the differences between biodiesel and SVO posted on their website. I also found a blog that was posted on a converted Jetta. Both quite interesting sites.

http://www.goldenfuelsystems.com/resources_faq_systems.php

http://www.autoblog.com/2006/04/04/in-the-autoblog-driveway-2003-vw-jetta-svo-straight-vegetable/

Happy Reading :)

Three Weeks...

Its been three weeks since my last blog. How time has flown! It has been a rough recovery, not being able to go on with my normal life - no working out, volleyball, tennis :( However, last week I decided that I had enough and went salsa dancing! It was worth the pain :) Then I figured I would start my own PT, so I got a group together to go canoeing on Saturday. It was awesome! Again, a little sore, but slowing building things back up. I feel almost normal again. Not going to push it too hard, but I feel like I put my life on hold the last three weeks (or 2 1/2).

I have to say I am experiencing the feeling of conviction. I came home from my mission's trip prepared to work on my spiritual walk. I was sick for two weeks, caught up with life for a week, and then was recovering from my injury for the last three. God gave me plenty of down time to spend with him and I tried, but didn't have the best attitude about it because my body was not 100% and I could not do everything that I wanted and was used too. I could have used that time in such a more productive way. I did however follow the Olimpics which were pretty awesome. Instead of reading, writing, and reflecting...

However, this last week has been really good for me. I have actually sat down and started reflecting, and reading, and... Wait I just planned 2 trips this month, filled up almost every weekend in September and October and started thinking about all the places I want to visit on my two weeks off in December... Maybe I haven't quite figured it all out yet..

I have been thinking of what I have accomplished in the last 8 months. I can't believe it will be September this weekend. My goal will be to put a little concrete thought to this year and how I have changed and what I have been through.

Point of my rambles - The holy spirit is trying to convict me and bring me closer to him and every time he catches me, I slip through and find the next adventure. I pray that God will follow me and be with me in all these adventures and bring light and direction in the midst of my plans...

hmmm...things to ponder... Maybe blogging will be good and help me with some clarity.

A Long Weekend and an Answer to Prayer

Well, the weekend started off great and then came to a screaching halt! I was at my sister's on Saturday morning and we were training her new horse Freeze. He is a retired Harness racing horse and most of his training consisted of trotting as fast as possible pulling a buggy. He doesn't realize that he is allowed to trot slow :-/ Well, he wasn't very comfortable doing some of the exercises and freaked out on me. I lost my footing, then my balance, almost had everything under control and in a split second as he got frisky again, I decided to bail before he was running full tilt across the yard. I rolled off, landed on my back and had the wind knocked out of me. Yeah, a little rough. I had a hard time breathing and as I managed to roll over, realized that I was coughing up blood...yeah, not a good thing, so that was just the beginning. Praying the whole way to the hospital, as I was scared to breathe deep and cough up more blood... I made it to the hospital, got checked in.

So picture this, sitting on a hospital bed hooked up to a heart monitor, oxygen and an IV. After many checks - chest x-ray, CT scan and back x-ray and 3 1/2 hours later, they could not find anything wrong, could not figure out why I was coughing up blood. I was extremely sore and could feel the bruising, but no internal issues or broken bones. Praise God! So now my main issue is sleeping - there is no comfortable position, but I know within a couple weeks I will be back to my normal self!

Here is a picture 3 hours after I was released. This is me and my ER twin. We had made plans to hang out Sat afternoon and after calling her, found out she too had spent the morning in the ER (different hospitals). We decided a little time with a view of the water would help make up for the fact of spending time in the hospital! Yes, I still managed to find a way to smile :)

Costa Rican Sites

All work and no play is just not right when you are in a place as beautiful as Costa Rica! We were given two days off as days of rest. I also stayed an extra 4 days which turned out to be an essential and definitely needed to complete my trip.

Combo Trip

1. Took an all day trip around San Jose
2. Saw the Poas Volcano
3. Enjoyed the views of the La Paz Waterfall Gardens
4. Took a River Adventure in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui – seeing Toucans, Monkeys and crocodiles
5. Conquered the Rainforest Canopy (zip line) consisting of 10 platforms. We were transported by horseback to the entrance. Then we saw the butterfly farm, frogs and snakes upon completion.

Surfing Lesson on South Jaco Beach
Rented a surfboard for $10 (per day) and took a quick lesson from one of the locals. The waves definitely took a toll on my body, but it was worth it to be standing up cruising inland on a wave! It was so much fun, that I went a second time when I was on my own time. I have about 5 bruises to prove victory over the waves ;)

Tortuga Island Cruise
One of the church members arranged to take the pastor and a couple key missionaries, interns, and me on a large fishing boat to Tortuga Island, docked at Los Suenos. It was an amazing hour boat ride to the island, where we swam in the ocean, kayaked, mad sandcastles, played sand volleyball, read and soaked in the sun. It was a great day!

Horseback Riding Tour
We took a Discovery Tour, lead by a lady at the church, on Horseback to the waterfalls and had a mud bath! It was an absolutely wonderful tour. Unlike most other horses in Costa Rica, these were rescued horsed that were well taken care of.

Jaco Beach - Week 2

We spent 1 week in Jaco Beach right in the center of town – 1 block from the water! Things we learned in/about Jaco:

1. Jaco was the “arm pit” of Costa Rica or better known as the present day “Sodom and Gomorrah”.
2. It is a town right off of the ocean and is filled with drug trafficking, prostitution, and contains 3 brothels.
3. We were told not to go out after dark unless we were in a group. It was very unsafe to walk around late by yourself. Women could be mistaken as prostitutes.
4. It was very hot and humid in Jaco! Shorts and Tank tops were a necessity.
5. The pace of life was pretty slow in Costa Rica. Everything took forever to get done and it definitely showed in the Tico Mentality.
6. The church we worked with was the Calvary Chapel. The pastor and his wife had been in Jaco for 3 years. There was also a missionary couple that had arrived 6 weeks before our team got there. They also had 2 summer interns who helped organize the various ministries and locations.
7. Every Friday, there is a fresh veggie and fruit market every Friday from 11-3. Wonderful mangos and avocados! We ended up making guacamole a couple times instead of living on PB&J.
8. We stayed at the Estrellamar which was a pretty decent hotel. They had a hangout area with hammocks, and a pool where we cooled off every night!
9. Hot Showers! Well, most of time we had no problems. However, there were a few rooms that still had cold showers…brrr.
10. Rooms were full of bugs and critters! They wanted to keep us company! How thoughtful :) They also left many marks on us!
11. The food was better! Still had rice and beans at every meal, but we were also given Salsa Lizano to use as a condiment and it was great. We also had an endless supply of coffee :)
12. Little places called “Sodas” are very popular in Jaco and they are “pay by the plate” café’s. It is sort of like a buffet and you point to what you want and they dish it out – rice, beans, chicken, and plantains. It was about 1,800 colon which is about $3.50.
13. Surf shops and body boarding were also very popular.
14. Most of the people in Jaco spoke English. It is very much a tourist town.
15. Public bus service back to San Jose, which is about a 2-3 hour drive through the mountains, was only $3. Talk about cheap!

Jaco Ministry
The construction team worked on the local church right in town, only a 5-minute walk! No more buses  While the drama team was all over town (Pops ice cream at the center of town, the weekly market), the medical, cosmetology and VBS were at 2 different areas, which included the riverbed (where the squatters lived) and an area right on the edge of town.

As part of the construction team, we were given the task to rearrange the church due to potential as well as existing growth. We took down an office, some storage space, and the sound booth. Then we switched the stage area and added onto it, rebuilt the storage closet and the sound booth, rewired the church area to accommodate the changes, moved the projector and speakers, fixed the bathroom area and repainted everything. A full 4 days of work with finishing touches on the last day. Then we spent the remainder of the fourth day in the riverbed playing with the kids, jump rope, soccer, etc. It was finally nice to get out and hang out with the people of Jaco :)

This project was left up to our creativity, with minimal direction from supervisors in some areas, but then fixes in all areas afterwards. A little frustrating besides the fact that everything was done on Costa Rica time! Which is very slow! “When it gets done, it will get done”. But the final project turned out great, so we were happy!

San Jose - Week 1

We spent 1 week in San Jose on the outskirts of the city. The housing consisted of 4 dorm style buildings each with 2 large bedrooms containing 6 bunk beds, 4 showers, 2 bathrooms and 2 sinks. Then we had a main area where we met for breakfast & dinner downstairs and team time & devotions were held upstairs. Things we learned in San Jose:

1. At our accommodations, warm showers were rare! You were lucky if you got one. The more people taking showers, the shorted the hot water supply and pressure. Sometimes only a few dribbles would be available. We learned to take quick showers!
2. No toilet paper was to be flushed. Yes, a little unsanitary! But the Costa Rican sewer systems could not handle it.
3. July is the rainy season. It rained almost every day for a couple hours in the evening. However, a couple days it didn’t rain and a couple days it rained all afternoon!
4. Much of the country is set aside forever into protected National Parks, wildlife refuges and nature reserves.
5. Sun rises at 5:15am and sets at 6:00pm. So early to bed, early to rise!
6. Rice and beans were the main source of food for breakfast and dinner with a random side. We were also served a side of fruit, scrambled eggs or hotdog (yes, for breakfast), and for dinner a vegetable or a side of chicken was served.
7. PB&J were our staple for lunches, but we rejected the white bread after the first day and stopped at the store to get some good wheat bread!
8. Drinking water was essential! Must remember to be hydrated at all times!
9. Long Bus rides to our worksite in Acosta which was up in the mountains ranged from 1.5 to 2 hours! Costa Rica had crazy but good bus drivers! Also, there was major traffic in the downtown San Jose area during rush hour.
10. Daily schedules were very regimented: Breakfast at 6:30, Devotions/God time at 7:00, Team time at 8:00, Dinner at 6:30, Church at 7:30, Lights out at 10:30.

San Jose Ministry
The Construction, Medical and Cosmetology teams took a bus to Acosta everyday to a local church. Medical and Cosmo brought all their supplies, but we had to wait until we reached the site to purchase the materials for Construction since we didn’t know what projects we were going to do.

Our construction team was made up of 8 people. We were told that we were going to work on putting a plaster/stucco substance on the cinder block walls due to new codes that the church had a year to meet. So our job was to get as much done as possible in four days. We were given 2 wheelbarrows, a hose, a shovel and 2 makeshift wooden ladders. By the end of the trip we ended up purchasing 20 bags of “plaster”, a bucket of plasticizer, 3 “sponges”, 3 square plaster hand trowels, 3 triangle hand trowels and 4 wire brushes.

We had a lot of fun trying to learn the plastering trade. We worked very well together, blending our knowledge, giving compliments, and shooting sarcastic remarks back and forth. Everyone was ready to pitch in where help was needed. We were surprised at how much we got done, but by the last day, we all very sore and ready for a break! Drama and VBS were back in San Jose in the city center. They spent their days doing dramas and VBS played with the local kids. We didn’t get to see the results of this ministry since we were not able to be in the same area.