The best night ever!!!

What is that? Can it be? Rest assured your eyes are not failing you!!!
Upon closer inspection . . . It is a domino's box in my fridge!!!
The best pizza in France.

My supervisor and I hunted this place down, about 30 minutes out of town. It was well worth an hour walk that is for sure. We arrived at 5:30 to an empty parking lot and a dark Domino's. Fear not, we waiting for that bad boy to open. There we were huddled in our car with the heater on (it was so cold). The minute the lights were on, the race was on to be the first to the door (it was just her and I).lol. So we ordered our pizza (one a piece) and told the man we would be waiting in our car (the car was right outside the window). It was the longest 10 minutes of my life. When we saw him with our pizzas, we beat him to the door. We thanked him and hurried back to our car. There we sat, two Americans, inhaling like we've never eaten before (in our heated car). We sat in the parking lot and finished our pizza before heading home.
Then we went and saw some Christmas lights. It was the best night ever

Saying a blessing. . . before you eat

I'll be honest in saying that before I came here, I never thought much about what I said before I ate. Don't get me wrong, I meant it but not as much as I do now. I often quote what Mark said in his book, chapter 18. . . "when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all . . .". You can never be sure how things are prepared or for that matter what was prepared (raw meat or unmentionable body parts). The other day I had lunch with a family. The mother proudly brought out chicken soup (best way to describe it). She told me it was chicken. I didn't realize that the whole chicken was in there, bones in all. A couple of times I almost choked. And then I got to this lovely brown ball. I thought, "I've never seen KFC or Popeyes serve this". I ate it with a smile and prayed it would stay down.

Or like the time I was in the middle of an olive grove visiting with the people harvesting the olives. We were in the middle of the field and they brought out food for us (we are literally in the middle of nowhere... the gps didn't even know where we were). Oh we were definitely asking for protection from it, and nourishment from it. But to see their faces light up as you eat like them and comment on how it is better than the restaurants is worth it all. May they see the one in us that is the creator of it all.

A two bedroom apartment

Today was absolutely Beautiful!! I stepped out of my apartment to very windy, but sunny day. The sky was an incredible blue and everywhere you look, it looks like Christmas, and feels like it too, especially with the crisp air. The vendors were out selling their hand-made products for Christmas. Everything from jewelry, to bird shaped candles (go figure), to Mediterranean style clocks. Ah, and the smell of chestnuts roasting was in the air. The shopping bug has bitten. And those of you who know me, know I hate shopping, but I love shopping in Marseille at Christmas time (I decided this today). But who wants to go shopping by themselves??? Not me or anyone else I know. You can't ask yourself what you think about the pretty blue necklace you are thinking of buying, or if you like the rose smelling soap better than the honey smelling one. Because if you knew, you wouldn't need to ask. I'd give just about anything to have my roommies back. Hear that roommies?? You are missed, not just for the shopping partner, but for cooking awesome meals together (raclette and homemade french fries), craft making parties, chick-flick nights, and oh so much more!!! I never knew a two bedroom apartment could be so big. Girls, you are missed and loved!! How thankful I am for you both. Abba is, oh, so good.

Betty is back . . . and fat and sassy

The first picture is something I created all on my own. I was trying to make Chicken Parmesan, but bought mozzarella cheese instead. I'm still confused on how that happened. Anyway so I ended up making Chicken Mozzarella with Champignon (mushrooms) and red sauce. It was way tasty. The other picture is chicken pot pie. We are talking made from scratch chicken pot pie. I have no clue how it will taste; it is for tonight. But I will let you know. Don't you wish you were my roommate!!!

Exceeding the Weight Limit

My pants have decided that I have exceeded the "extra baggage" allowance, so I decided I had to do something about it. While my brain said, "running is the best option" every bone and muscle screamed, "NO!". And usually the bone and muscle tantrum works, but not today. Now while most of you know I hate running, there is something I hate more. And that is running in the cold. I refuse to do it. So when I woke up this morning and checked the weather I was less than thrilled that it was a whopping 45 degrees. Yes, you read that number correctly . . . 45!!! I decided to fight back. I was going running and I was going to do it in warmth. So here is what I did. I dressed like it was snowing outside and set out. Remember every other French person running in the park today still had on their summer running shorts. I got a couple of stares, but I didn't care, because I was nice and cozy. Thanks Dad, for the hat. And mom and Chris, for the gloves and scarf. They came in handy!!!

The French and their dogs . . . Craziness

I was walking home yesterday and I passed a lady walking her dog. Her dog stopped to go poo. Oh so common here. . . and then I noticed something a little strange. I saw the lady take a tissue out of her pocket and are you ready for this?? She wiped the dogs tail. I am not lying. She lifted his tail and well you can fill in the rest. Someone please tell me this isn't normal. I have a dog and we have never wiped Lucki's tail. By the way, did she bother to pick up her dog's poo??? No, wiping was far more important. AYE!!!

Just Call Me Betty

I realize that the one picture looks like the dough thing throw up a little, but I just wanna say those were made by me, from scratch, baby. The desert was from a box, but hey it shows I can read instructions. Since, all of my roommates have left, my apartment can be rather boring in the evenings, so I've taken up the hobby of cooking. More to follow . . . a girls gotta eat.

The Best News Ever!!!

Today has just been one of those days. It has rained all day and I've just been in a pooy mood. Well that was until 5 minutes ago. I got a phone call from a dear, dear friend. We have grown up together so we have a ton of history. He called to tell me he was engaged!!! I am so thrilled for them. She is a great girl! They are perfect for each other. It was so sweet of them to call and let me know. Being overseas I find out what is going in people's lives from the internet and weeks after it has occured, but they were so thoughtful and called me!!! I love them! Congrats, Danielle and Brandon. I love you guys.

Me and My Niece

While i was home I was able to meet my adopted niece for the first time. I love being an aunt!!!We are the most beautiful girls in the world.

Sweet memories

I took some vacation days and headed for the good ole' U.S. of A. to visit with very dear friends and family members. I was so busy I forgot to take any pictures except these. I did however, manage one meal at chick-fil-a. (My mom isn't the greatest at using a digital camera)

Another example of le mistral (the wind) here in Marseille

Summer Help!!!

All of my sisters!! All living in different countries, all different nationalities, but still family.

One Year Down and One More to Go!!!

Can you believe it??? Some days I can, oh man, I can and others I think there is no way, someone had to miss count!!! No my friends, I have been employed by the same company for one whole year. With one more to go, I am experiencing mixed emotions. Kind of like when I left my summer job (camp). The feeling of the work continuing without me, not that it needs me, because it doesn't, but oh how I want to be apart of it. I am excited about the next adventure. May I cherish every moment (even the ones that give me one more grey hair) --seriously I may have to change the color category on my driver's license. lol

One more set of pictures!!!

The most beautiful sun set ever!!!

More Greece Pictures . . .

My Vacation . . . to Greece!!!

I am still reeling from my awesome vacation to Greece!!! It was a dream come true. I visited Athens and then the Greek Island, Mykonos. The most beautiful place on earth. I wish I could tell you all of the crazy stories, like the Greek guy that wanted to take me and my friend to a Greek island to show us what fun really is. Praising the lord that didn't happen. Or how our travel agent said, "just cross the street and you will see the sign for your ferry". We crossed the street to one of the largest ports in the world and 7 million signs, all of which were in Greek!!! Or about how when we disembark from our ferry into a parking lot 10 miles from the center of town, with no bus in sight. But all in all it was a great trip. I saw the acropolis, Mars Hill, some temple, and a Greek island. I'm planning on returning, anyone wanna come???

My Summer

This is one tired, hard working group!!
I haven't dropped off the face of the earth or drowned in the Med. Sea. I have been extremely busy though. We had 3 months of visitors from the states/south africa/trinadad/jordan/tunisia come help with the work here. Every week a new group arrived prepared for 10 long days of work. The work would start as early as 4:30am and end around 5:00pm, so you can imagine how exhausting it was. But a grand total 18,958 gifts given to people going on vacation to Africa!!
A group from my home city!! My mom is in the picture. Can you guess which one??

I found a new way to take out the trash . . .

Well this week or month (maybe even longer) the trash people are on strike. So that means trash is piling up at the trash pick up areas, really everywhere. Our trash pick up spot has grown to where it sits just to the left of our front window. The other night we needed to take down another bag of trash, when I decided it would be way more fun to chunk it out our front window, over our balcony, pass 3 cars and onto the trash pile. So I climbed over our railing, took 3 big swings and let it go. It was the most beautiful sight. The trash bag soared high into the sky and landed exactly on top of the pile. My roommate and I were ecstatic. Here are the pics. . .

What do you use your elevator for?

The question of the week . . .

What do you use your elevator for?

We use it to take out our trash. This week our trash was an exceptionally large amount. We (my roommate and I) couldn't get it down the stairs (it was way too heavy) so we loaded the elevator. Don't worry we sprayed this nice, smelly stuff in after we were finished.

Some good eatin'

Our Tunisian friend made us the best meal ever. I gained at least 5 pounds during this one dinner.

And still there is more . . .

This is where children were sacrificed to the god Baal and the goddess Tanit.













Do you know what these symbols mean?

More of Tunisia

This is a picture of a baptisty (part of a church) that was here before the romans and muslims moved in. We also visited historical places. This is a picture where the romans killed christians for their faith. Two females (one a mother of a newborn) were killed here.


I had the opportunity to study some history while there. Before the Arabs moved into North Africa the peoples were christian. Here is a picture of a woman who is from one of the origional people groups called "berbers".

Blue is everywhere . . .

I took this really cool trip to Tunisia and loved it. We traveled up and down the country meeting people, eating, buying, and having a blast. Here are some pictures.

The Biggest Myth in the Language Learning Process . . .

is that you will learn the language just by being in that country. This is so wrong!!! I will say the best way to learn a language is by living in that particular country, but by no means does that mean it will just come. No my friend, please do not fall into the trap of believing that. It takes work, a lot of work!!!I could live in this country with minimal language skills and never speak the language fluently. So, here is my advice . . . if you are going to be living overseas, learning a new language, be prepared to STUDY and be humbled beyond what you ever thought possible.

No, Chick-fil-a did not go international

Yep, you are looking at two girls who just experienced heaven on earth. You see my supervisors had taken some vacation time in the states and a manager of a chick-fil-a was kind enough to teach them how to prepare sandwiches that would be good for 48 hours. My supervisors love me and my roommates! They brought us back each a sandwich, and I can not begin to tell you how great today has been. I have never tasted anything so good in my entire life. So those of you who are coming for a visit be prepared to bring us chick-fil-a!!! We give thanks because manna was graciously given to us. Here are some pictures. Jen tried to bite mine--not a chance girl!