Half Of My Vacation and New Shoes

First of all, let me say that this post is going to be posted when I get back, 'cause I can't stay online for long (it makes my grandparents' phone busy) and this internet connection is also the slowest connection EVER. I mean, it seriously takes at least 5 minutes (if not more) to load a page! So anyways...

My time here with my Grandparents has been wonderful, just what I needed. I was going crazy in Chicago! I was beginning to wonder if I would be able to really live there for anther year! As soon as I saw my grandparents' house I felt happy and when my grandparents, aunts and I were done having dinner together, I couldn't help sighing with relief and saying how glad I was to be back. This is, after all, the house that has been most familiar to me here in the States, since every time my family came to the States we would stay here. It's been great being out in the country, hearing crickets all the time, not hearing sirens and people yelling, seeing and smelling green. And it's so nice to be living in a place with LIGHT! How I've missed being able to sit in a room with sunlight!! And there's no drama and no being on the computer all day (at work and at home). Instead, I'm working in the garden and the yard with my Grandma and also help her around the house (especially in the kitchen), I'm getting to relax, read, play cards, and watch Grandma dance around to her silly songs (Philadelphia Chickens) =)

Yesterday I finally got new shoes!! My Grandparents really helped me search ALL OVER for them and helped me pay for them. It's weird having new shoes...they're so bright and clean and narrow. I forgot that when you buy new shoes, you have to wear them for a bit before you're able to break them (I've been wearing my old shoes for more than two years now...).
It's very annoying how whatever I wear on my feet hurts me...my old shoes give me calluses on my heels, my flip flops rub my skin raw on the sides of my feet and between my toes, and my new shoes give me sores on the sides of my small toes. It's just easier to go bare foot =)
Here you can see how bad my shoes were...

And here are some pictures I took of my grandparents' flowers (you can click on them to see them bigger). My favorite one is the red and orange one =)

Interesting Thursday

Today started out as a pretty blah day, but ended up being a good one.
It's been nice working with Erica again (I worked with her on first floor for quite a bit, then moved to second floor, and now I'm moved back to first floor though I still work for second floor...I know, kind of confusing..). We have a lot of fun together. We ended up having lunch together with Carolyn in the third floor kitchen at our house. Amanda Sue (Carolyn's roommate who lives on third floor) told me later on that she could hear us laughing, so I guess we were being really loud...
At dinner time, our electricians were working on something which made the power go out in our whole building for about a half an hour. It was pretty funny going in the dining room and having to put your face up close to the food to figure out what we were getting. Once we got our food, some of us decided to go out in our yard to eat. I'm so glad we have our yard! It's not huge, but it's nice.
When I was done with dinner, Amanda Sue found me and asked me if I could help her and Andrew out with Manna. Andrew and Amanda Sue have been doing Manna for a year now. It's basically getting leftovers from our kitchen at Jesus People which will be thrown away, and setting up a spot in a park near by to give food and drinks out to whoever is there (homeless or not) and just hanging out with people.
I've helped them out with it only about 3 times. I like it and I think it's a great thing to do, but it's not something I feel called to do, you know what I mean? I'm not exactly a social butterfly...especially with weird men who start saying inappropriate things to me (ugh!). We did, however, meet this guy called Ross (who's probably in his 50s if not older) who's been living with his sister Claire in a van close to where we were handing out food. His sister has serious back problems, heart problems and is blind, so, when his parents were dying, he promised them he'd take care of her. But now they're living in that van and have cops checking on them regularly 'cause last winter they almost froze to death. Ross doesn't want to go into a shelter or put his sister in any kind of home, because he doesn't want them to be separated. So they live off of money that she gets from the government and have two sandwiches and two bottles of water a day (though sometimes he skips meals so she can have more to eat). I felt really bad for them, but honestly, my complete trust in people has gone down a bit after having so many people this past year making me believe them and then ending up being totally dishonest with me. So who knows if all of that is really true! I guess I believe him though...but, you never know. Also, I understand why he doesn't want them to be parted, but if he really wanted to help her and really wanted to get out of that situation, I would think he would go to a shelter or a nursing home or something, you know?...I don't know what to say about that whole thing...I'm probably sounding like a horrible judgmental person now.... The only thing I can do is pray for them and ask you to pray for them, too.

Anyways, after Manna, Amanda Sue, Andrew, Carolyn, Marco and I ended up watching Aladdin! It was great =) I hadn't seen it in a while. The next Disney I want to see is The Little Mermaid!! Haven't seen that is a LONG time.
Disney movies are so much fun!

Finally, I'll leave you with one last thing....I HATE FRUIT FLIES!!!

P.S. I'm excited about my two week vacation to Pennsylvania!! =)

I Could've DIED!!!

No, I'm joking. I just decided to make that the title of this post because that's what, jockingly, Erica just told me....
But anyways...something did happen just a half an hour ago...and it thoroughly grossed me out. And I'm pretty sure that it happened because our kitchen (on second floor) is being remodeled and so EVERYTHING that was in the kitchen is now in the hallways.
I was fine with all the small cockroaches that were in my room on sixth floor, I was fine with the mouse and the ants in the room that I am in now...but I am NOT fine with cockroaches that are almost as big as my thumb walking in my room!!!! And that is precisely what I had to kill. I felt it as it crunched under my shoe. That's just disgusting.
I have seen bigger cockroaches. I saw a bigger one in the sixth floor living room and I saw even bigger ones in Central America, but it's just different when it's in your room, you know?

Purple

BBC had people send in these pictures of "the color purple in Africa". I liked it. Check it out if you like =)

I can't wait for my vacation!!! This Saturday, I'm finally leaving for a two week vacation at my grandparents' house in Pennsylvania! It's gonna be great =) I've been needing to get away...

Weddings = lots of work, food, and happiness

I'm way too full and I'm pretty tired, but I feel better =)

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to face the drama at some point....but this moment of happiness and fun and not thinking about it is very nice!

P.S. I love the fact that the ceremony for this wedding started out with the band singing I Would Walk 500 Miles!! (If you've seen Benny & Joon you'll know what song I'm talking about...I love that movie!)
I can't wait for Josh and Erica's wedding!! Wow, it's only in two months! It's gonna be a lot of fun =)

I Hate Drama

I hate drama. I really really do hate it. I can't stand it. And lately there is so much drama going on in this house it's insane! It's so stupid and annoying! It makes me want to pack my bags and leave. Do I really have to live with this for another year?!?!? UGH