The 47th Dear _______ Post

Dear 8, You're how many years my dad has been cancer free :)

Dear Spiritual Emphasis Week at My School, You were this week. My 1st graders loved the Bible stories, Christian songs, and fun games. There was a team of people from the States leading our SEW this week that loved on our kids and treated them (and us teachers) so amazingly the whole week.

Dear Grad School, All my issues with you finally got all worked out this week. Praise the Lord! :)

Dear Last 2 Berean Courses, I registered for you this week. After these courses, a test, and an interview (that scares the daylights out of me just so you know), I'll have my Certified Minister's license with the Assemblies of God.

Dear Cajun Food, A few friends and I enjoyed you today. Gumbo, jambalaya, and red beans and rice...Yum! :)

Dear Duck Dynasty, Those same friends and I watched a mini marathon of you. We enjoyed the Cajun-ness and embraced our inner rednecks. Ha! :)

Dear Financial Blessing, I received you earlier this week. Thanks for showing up when I needed you the most :)

Dear Rulers, Who would've thought you'd be so much fun for my first graders? They've loved measuring things in the classroom and are looking forward to doing so around our campus on Monday. I love when they get excited about learning.

Dear Cooking for People, I really enjoy you. It's so nice being able to do it so much. I love being able to entertain/have people over any time I want. ...one of the perks of living by myself, I suppose :)

Dear Cooking in General, You're so much fun. I never thought I'd say that, but you really are. I really do love cooking :)

Dear Washington D.C., It's looking like I may get to visit you this summer on my way home from Dakar. If it works out, that'd be so awesome! Now I just wonder if I'd be able to meet Mr. Obama :)

Dear New Knife, I was happy to see you in a goody bag I got from a friend for Christmas this year. I used you for the first time last night. You work wonderfully. ...so wonderfully, that you not only cut the veggies for supper, but also cut through two of my fingers. Can we say ouch?

Dear Answered Prayers, I'm a big fan of you. ...just so you know. And my dad needs a big one right now, so feel free to come his way. :)

Dear 2 a.m., I've never been a big fan of you. And when I get woken up at that time by a phone call, telling me that my dad's been rushed to the emergency room due to having a heart attack, I like you even less. Boo :(

2013's First Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for... a great Spiritual Emphasis Week. My class has had so much fun (and has learned a lot too) all week! :)...safety and protection from God of a friend who needed it earlier this week...a half day of school tomorrow...a fun afternoon/evening planned with some friends tomorrow after school's dismissed...a financial blessing that arrived this week...that everything FINALLY got worked out in regards to my grad schooling issues...that I should graduate with my Master's degree in May...that I only have two more classes (and a test and interview back in the States hopefully this summer) and then I'll have my Certified Minister's license with the Assemblies of God...getting notes from 3 different people this week saying they're praying for me. Mail's always a nice surprise...those few really good friends that know the meaning of true friendship. I'm a blessed girl :)

January Photo Challenge Days 14 - 20

In case you're wondering what the January Photo Challenge is... This is a challenge to take a photo a day, using a prompt given here. I'll post my photos for the week every Sunday and then make a photo book using my 365 photos at the end of the year. Feel free to play along. :)

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Day 14's prompt was "Something Yellow..."

It's so dry and windy here this time of year that chapstick becomes a constant companion.

Day 15's prompt was "An Ordinary Moment..."

...an ordinary moment in my day, teaching cuties like these how to read :)

Day 16's prompt was "Two Things..."

Strawberries are finally back in season! :)

Day 17's prompt was "Ready..."

Cherry tomatoes are in season. This bowl full had just been bleached and was ready to be eaten. Yum! :)

Day 18's prompt was "Shadow..."

This is the sidewalk in front of my classroom. 

Day 19's prompt was "Delicious..."

Meal Planning delicious meals for the week...

Day 20's prompt was "Something You Saw..."

This is what I saw on my table while waiting for my dinner guests to arrive.

The 46th Dear _____ Post

Dear Long, You're one word I'd use to describe this week of school. While it was indeed fun and exciting, and I definitely enjoyed it, it still felt like one of the longest weeks ever! I guess that's what being on vacation and sleeping late for 3 weeks will do to you, huh? :)

Dear New Boxes of Crayons and Markers, Who would've ever thought that you could make the 8 kids in my class so incredibly happy? You would've thought I'd given them a million bucks by the way they reacted upon seeing you :)

Dear Projects, I've got quite a few of you planned for my first graders to do this semester. When I told them about some of them, they got super excited. And since their excitement is contagious, I got excited too :)

Dear Strawberries, You are FINALLY in season here in Dakar. And I know you're not going to last very long, so I'm going to buy up a bit of you to freeze for later when you disappear again. The sad thing is, though, that you're quite pricey. Boo to that :(

Dear Clementine Juice, I buy a bottle of you a week. You're my new favorite juice. 

Dear Mom, Your birthday was a week ago today. I'm sad that I wasn't there with you, but am thankful I got to talk to you (twice). I feel so incredibly blessed to have been born into the family I was. You are definitely the glue that holds our family together. You are one of the most amazing women I know, and I feel honored and blessed to be able to call you my best friend and my mom!

Dear A Long Way, You're how far two of my students have come since the beginning of the year. These two spoke absolutely no English whatsoever at the beginning of the year and yesterday, for the FIRST TIME EVER, they recited their entire Bible Verse (Psalm 18:32) from memory! Oh my word! I hugged them both. I complimented them. I cried a little. Then the rest of the class went on and on congratulating them and hugging them and telling them "good job" over and over again. I think the other 6 students were just as proud, if not more, as I was :)

Dear Ivory Coast, I'm looking forward to visiting you in March for our West Africa AGWM Retreat. Hello new stamp in my passport :)

Dear Fruit Ninja, You're a game on my iPad. And what a fun game you are. You are my help-me-to-wind-down-at-night-before-going-to-sleep game :)

Dear Sharpening Pencils, I so do not enjoy you. So imagine my delight when I realized that all 8 of my students can now sharpen their own pencils using their little handheld sharpeners. Praise the Lord for not having to sharpen any more pencils...at least until next year, that is :)

Dear Duck Dynasty Marathon Complete with Eating Yummy Cajun Food and Channeling our Inner Rednecks, Some friends and I are planning you. Yep, we're cool like that :)

Dear Fruit Stand Guy, You Sir made my day the other day. Thanks for complimenting me on my French. ...and you weren't even trying to get me to buy more veggies from you. :)

Dear Bones (the t.v. show), This past Monday's 2-part episode was a cool one. I really enjoyed it.

Dear Last Grad School Class EVER, I'm officially FINALLY enrolled in you! It's so hard to believe that after 3 1/2 long (really, really long) years, i am almost finished with grad school. Woohoo!!! :)

But with that said...

Dear Standstill, You're where I'm at in regards to a certain aspect of my grad school degree. My advising professor was out of the office yesterday when I tried calling (multiple times) and she hasn't replied to my emails. Her secretary says she doesn't know if everything will work out the way we planned or not and that I should just wait for my advisor to contact me. I then called the State Department and the same thing happened. The woman I needed to talk to was off for the day and no one else knows how to help me. And since Monday's a holiday, none of them will be in the office then either. I really don't know what to do at this point. I would just really like some answers. That's all. So to anyone reading this, please pray that this all works out and that God's will is done. P.S. To those who read this on Facebook yesterday, I'm sorry for the repeated "whine-fest" but I figure I need all the prayers I can get about this... :)

Dear Patience and Perseverance, You're clearly what God's teaching me through this whole grad school experience.

Dear Psalm 18:32, You're the verse my students had to memorize this week and the one God has been trying to drill into my thick skull this week as well. Why do I keep getting frustrated about this whole unsure-ness about my grad school stuff? Why do I keep worrying about things that are clearly out of my hands? God's going to work it all out according to His perfect will. I just need to LET GO...

January Photo Challenge Days 8 - 13

In case you're wondering what the January Photo Challenge is... This is a challenge to take a photo a day, using a prompt given here. I'll post my photos for the week every Sunday and then make a photo book using my 365 photos at the end of the year. Feel free to play along. :)

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Day 8's prompt was "Something Beginning with T..."

This was the day I flew back to Dakar. Here are my tickets.

Day 9's prompt was "Paper..."

Here's my To Do List for tomorrow.

Day 10's prompt was "One o'clock..."

At one o'clock this afternoon, I was unpacking my suitcase full of supplies for Kids Club. I was so incredibly blessed by the people that donated money and supplies for me to bring back. In this picture, you can only see a portion of what's in the suitcase. And this doesn't count all the stuff that was packed in my other 2 suitcases! :)

Day 11's prompt was "Water..."

Today was the first day back for teachers. Boo to all day long meetings and working. On a different note, I'm loving water again, so YAY for drastically cutting my soft drink intake! :)

Day 12's prompt was "Surprise..."

We, teachers, were pleasantly surprised with this awesome spread for breakfast yesterday before starting our second day of professional development. Bribe us with food and we'll sit through a day full of meetings. No problem :) Kidding...

Day 13's prompt was "Circle..."

This is my new tote bag, courtesy of a sweet, sweet friend given me an early Christmas present :)

The 45th Dear _____ Post

Dear Tearful Goodbyes, You stink.

Dear Peace, Even though I did have a tearful goodbye or two, I still felt you about coming back. I think that's God's way of showing me that I am indeed called to Senegal and that He's still there with me, comforting me along the way :)

Dear Jet Lag, You also stink.

Dear Mountain Dew, You got me through my meetings yesterday and today. Jet lag's been a doozy, so the extra caffeine was nice.

Dear Breakfast, My fellow staff members and myself were treated to you this morning. There was quite the spread. It was such a nice, special treat.

Dear New Year's Resolutions, I'm still working on you. I normally say a few things and stick with them for a little while, but that's it. I don't want that to happen this year. I want to truly put time and genuine thought into them. I want to create a list of items that I can actually attain...items that are meaningful to my life right now. I'm hoping to finish them up this weekend...

Dear Beginning of 2nd Semester, You're my most favorite time of the school! I love seeing how excited all the kids are to be back at school with their friends and teachers. I love the ego boost that comes from a class full of first graders telling me how they missed me on the long break. I love seeing how thrilled they are to be back in the classroom, using new supplies I've brought, reading and writing, and learning new things. It's such a fun time of year for me :)

Dear Meal Planning, I'm going to start doing a better job of you. By doing this I'll 1) save money by not buying stuff I don't really need when grocery shopping and 2) eat better, since I'll be planning healthier meals and snacks.

Dear Duck Dynasty, I bought the DVD of Season 1 of you while in the States. I may or may not be having a mini marathon tonight during dinner as a "brain break" :)

Dear Unpacking, I've gotten a few things out, but I really haven't wanted to do you yet. Oh my word - There's so many more things that I'd rather do than unpack. But alas, I suppose I'll finally unpack tomorrow after working in my classroom. I think the whole packing/unpacking times is the 2nd worse thing about my job. The first...saying those all too frequent goodbyes...

Dear Trail Mix, I made you yesterday. ...such an easy snack to make, and so tasty! :)

Dear One Year, You're how long I'm planning to take to read through the Bible completely. I've done it a few times before, but I'm planning to do so more intently this year. I'm also planning to journal while I do my reading. I want to see how I learn from and grow while doing this reading plan. I even bought a small One-Year Bible that can easily fit in my purse. This way, I can read anywhere :)

Dear God, I had someone prophecy over me a few weeks back. Because of what this person said, I've received a renewed hope for that area of my life. But I'm putting it completely in your hands, God. I'm giving it to you. I'm waiting patiently for your will to be done. Side note... Isn't it so cool to know that God knows what's best for us? He has a plan for us. We just have to let him do his will and not let ourselves get in the way :)

The 44th Dear ___ Post...otherwise known as the post about the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER :)

Dear BEST SURPRISE EVER, You happened to me the day I landed. My family had told me that my brother and sister-in-law had to work so I wouldn't be able to see (meet) my niece 'til later that night. So there I was in baggage claim, waiting on my suitcase to come out and who should I see, but the most beautiful baby girl ever? ...oh and her mommy, daddy, and granny too :) P.S. The picture above is the first time I held her.

Dear Sleeping Baby, Is there anything more precious than you?

Dear Family Time, I so very much enjoyed having you. I loved it! Dear Burger King, You were my first American meal and you were perfect! 

Dear Steak Dinner, I had you for supper the night I landed. YUM!

Dear Cold, It was nice feeling you again. ...even if it meant I had to sleep in sweats and a hoodie and sleep under 3 (yes, 3) blankets to keep warm at night. BUT at the same time, I must say... I do like to be able to warm back up, so when I'm outside feeling you, you're not so enjoyable...

Dear Snow, I'd been hoping I could see you during my time in the States, and I did. It was just a few flurries, but that was enough to satisfy my longing for snow. ...mainly because I couldn't handle the 36 degrees temp that accompanied those flurries. Ha :)

Dear Starbucks, Thanks for making the chai tea latte taste so yummy! I wish you existed in Dakar. And speaking of which...

Dear Chai Tea Latte, Oh my word. You're so incredibly, totally delicious. I may or may not gotten a few too many of you during my time in the States. After all, it'll be about 6 months before I'll get to have your tasty goodness again... :)

Dear Gift Cards, You make shopping so much more fun since you meant I wasn't having to use my own money to pay for some of my purchases :)

Dear Parental Guidance (the movie), I saw you the day after Christmas. You were such a really good, funny, (and clean) movie. I really enjoyed watching you!

Dear New Year's Day, I enjoyed you so very much! I got to spend the entire day with my brother and sister-in-law. We ate a delicious lunch, saw a fun movie, went shopping, and then ate a delicious supper, before heading home where I got to see and love on my absolutely adorable niece. 

Dear Camera, You gave me a little scare a few days before I headed back to Dakar. I was so worried that I would have to go back to Dakar camara-less, but the Geek Squad guy at Best Buy showed me how to work around the issue. Yay for an awesome tech person being nice and knowing his stuff...and for only having to spend $11 to fix the problem :)

Dear Lunch on the Thursday before I flew back to Dakar. You were so nice. I enjoyed my time with my mom, Marla, and Chloe. It was a fun mini reunion with the McLane ladies. ...not to mention tasty food. After all, who can beat Chikfila? :)

Dear 2012, You were full of highs and lows, but you know what... The highs definitely outweighed the lows. There's so much more to write, so I decided to devote a whole Dear Fill in the Blank post to you. ...which will hopefully be finished soon :)

Dear 2013 New Year's Resolutions, I'm working on you. I realize I should've had you already figured out, but I was too busy holding a cute baby to care about you. Let's be honest :) Anywho... You should be finished soon. Then I'll write a blog post all about your awesomeness. So don't worry. It'll be soon. I promise :)

Dear Blog, I'm sorry that I neglected you while back in the States. It's just that I had something far more important consuming my time. Family comes first, you know... :)