The Week before the Missions Trip!

sunday was pretty awesome day, i went to IBC and got dressed up all canadian!!

and i carried the flag up the isle for the first service! we were celebrating international day and all the different countries/diversiites in that church. there is so many! and it was really cool to see. after there was a bunch of food from differnt countries and that was really good.

thats nina and jayna holding the indian and costa rican flag while im with the canadian one! than in the afternoon i went for a 10k run and did everyhting awesmoe but killed my leg abit, according to jose who gave me a most excellent leg massage, it was cause of the latic acid build up because i run, than dont do anything and than run and so that according to him is why its injured. its better now though! than after for the ppl who went to arenal, we had a suprise birthday meal for erin since her bday is on the missions trip!! it was really fun. we had grill cheese and tomato soup and than played up and down the river! :)

thats erin being surprised! in the evening we had worship and that was nice and that was my sunday. So monday came along and it was like any other monday. we had worship in the morning and than class. this time class was on 1/2 Timothy taught by Clarissa and it was quite good. i enjoyed it and never knew that you could get so much out of it! than in the afternoon, after 2 weeks of not going, we made it to the soup kitchen...however it didnt turn out soo good.

theres not much to go with. we attempted played on a "field" beside it but kids kept getting cut so we stopped with the rocks, we couldnt do much with them in the soup kitchen itself so it was a very low key, kinda awful day as the stuff we planned didnt go so well.

the kids sat in the construction thing while cody gave the devo. it was intresting. after when we got back we just chilled and than in the evening we had class with clarissa again and cont on with Timothy. on tuesday we had class in the morning on Timothy and than in the afternoon it was ministry and i ended up writing my paper and just kinda not doing a lot. in the evening we had doctrine of christ with don marco and that was pretty decent. on wed we had camineta and i was with janet, don marcos wife, and that was super nice. i enjoyed talking to her and we had a great discussion on guys, marriage, parents with "guys there daughters bring home" etc... stuff like that and it was nice. i enjoyed it lots. after it was work day and of cousre i inured myself on sunday from the 10k and also bashed up my elbow a bit so i was really hoping for a low-key job. and thank you god i got one! it was the sheets for the casita than cleaning the gym and apartment. very easy and nice. i enjoyed it lots. after than it was a missions trip meeting, we got our scheudle for the week, our t-shirts, the ppl were staying with. im staying with erin! :) yay! and than we presented what we were gonna do for the different ministrys and than i walked to the store with cody and gaia because i needed some things for the missions trip. they ended up getting wings and than we ate them in the boat house. i didnt mooch of them, they offred and i accepted :P it was fun. i really enjoy hanging out with those 2 boys. it makes me happy. there so fun and so entertaining. after i relaized i missed a skype call with emily :( i was terribly sad becaues i got caught up in the missions trip stuff. not good! hopefully we can skype soon. after that than we had class on the law of life and death taught by don marco and it was good. on thurs we had our last class on timothy, than i ended up hanging out with a bunch of little tico boys, ususally pablo(he wasnt there) or jose(sick) usually does it and so me and german played soccer with them. cutest kids ever! it was so fun! jose was there but he was dictating, not really playing or doing much because of sickness. and it is something i would do again. than i walked to the store with kiley and than came back, made some KD as we had no supper tonight because of fasting for the missiosn trip so we get the money from the would be meal towards our missions trip. twas good. than i went over to diego and claris for a bit and watchd a bit of ratatoulie, and than i went to my familys house because i wanted to hang out with them before we left and we had juice and peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies! so amazing! than im writing this, still havnt packed...should prolly do that soon. ya, but were leaving for the missions trip tomorow. cant beleive its already here and when we come back, were only have 3 weeks left! :( going so fast. o well, missions trip here we come! cheers :)0

Panama!!!

so we ended up leaving for Panama at 4:30 in the morning, and it was approx a 7 hr drive. not including waiting at the border.

that is the bus we took. because it was smaller we got there fairly fast ish. we stopped at TBCY for breakfast and than made it to the border before 12. got through fairly fast. def faster than last week so thank you God!! and than we went to the place at Bocas were we are gonna take a boat to the island we will be staying on! it was pretty good.

those are the happy campers!!!! after we got to the place and checked into our hotel. me and christena were sharing a room and it was nice.

it was pretty nice room we got. one of the nicer ones and big ones to. after we had supper at the hotel.

it was pretty good!! after than we just chilled and did whatever. i ended up dancing in the pouring rain!

i got soaked and it was awesome! the next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and i had french toast. than we went onto the boat and saw dolphins!!

so gorgeous in panama!! than we went to this little restaurant on the sea and had some lunch!

that was my meal i chose!

thats our happy group eating lunch!

i just really like this photo. afterwards we went to red frog beach! and it was gorgeous as everything is in panama!

white sand beaches, palm trees and crystal clear water...you just cant go wrong!

i really like this photo! the 3 of us in purple!! :) after we went back to Bocas del Toro and we had a bit of free time to hang out than we had supper at the hotel again!

that was our meal. after we had a devo in mine and christneas room since the bedroom is seperate from the rest of the area. and that was nice. alyssa gave a devo and we sang some songs. in the morning it was time for starfish beach!! :)

theres me with some starfish :)

i wish i didnt have to leave!

thank you lord for creating such beauty!! and than we went and had lunch at this place on the island.

yes, once again chicken and fries! i didnt branch out too much! lol

theres all the lovely girls! after we went to bird island!

thats it with the panama flag as well! it was hard to get a good picture with the birds, but there was a lot! and i mean a lot! lol. after we started going back to Bocas but our boat died...

sitting in the middle of the ocean! however we could see the island so if needed we could swim there but one of the motors were acting up and than it died and the other motor wasnt strong enough for the weight in the boat. so we chilled for a bit and than help finally came and all of us girls piled into the boat and than the one motor could take the rest of the ppl home! twas an experince! and than we just had supper at the restaurant across the road!

ya, i really didnt branch out with my meals...lol than we had a devo in the gazebo that was in the park and than we went for ice cream than off to the pier to sing some songs! we met some locals and talked to them for a bit so that was cool than it was curfew(12) and so off to bed we went. in the morning we had braksfast than it was off back to Costa RIca! we had lunch at BK and it was overlly not too bad of a trip back. pretty decent! and than we came back, had supper and than wathced a movie - fast five! so good! loved it! and than bedtime and that was my panama trip! cheers! :)

Monday - Tuesday before Panama!

So on monday it was another typical day. worship in the morning and than missions class. after i found out we didnt need to go to ministry because they were still working on the soup kitchen. so i got a free afternoon which was nice and so i worked on my paper. after than we had doctrine of christ with don marco and we had it in the sala and that was fun! i love having it in the sala and his class is also soo good as ive said many times before. on tuesday, we had family devos in the morning and than missions class and than in the afternoon i went to ministry as an extra one to the womens rehab centre and that was really fun. the ladies there are awesome. and than i came back and packed a bit and than went for a run in the rain! it was fun! i managed to do 2 miles but than it was getting super slippery and wet and dangereous so i stopped which was prolly good cause my shin splints were acting up again :( than we had missions in the evening and than bam. leavning for panama shortly! cant beleive how fast it came. this sem is going by wayy to fast!! and so tomrow at 4:30am we are off! it should be good! im excited. woohoo! cheers :) talk to u after Panama!!

!!Thurs - Sun!!

So thurs came along and we had hr of prayer in the morning and than had a class on....in the afternoon I didn't do much. i finished my paper and than just relaxed until family night. for our family night we had "blizzards" with ice cream, cookies, oreo, chocoalte/caramel stuff, chocolate syrup and just all mixed together it was soo good. and than we had brownies as well.

theres me with a milk mustache!

thats flynnigan!

thats sarah!

thats sam!

thats david looking akward!

me and alyssa with sarah creeping in the backgruond~
really bad evening for junk food but so good. than we played rage and just hung out and it was really fun. than i went to bed. thursday was kinda uneventful. on friday I had small group and led the devo on the chapter we are on in the book which is called - lady in waiting. its a pretty decent book. some stuff dont apply to us but the stuff that does is really good. and im learning a decent amount from it. after we had class on missions. taught by Sara, Tom's wife and its a really good class. we had it into the afternoon and than when that was done there was a few ppl getting hair cuts and the other ppl, which included me went to see The Hunger Games!! it was soo good. i mean of course it missed some stuff from the book but for the most part it got most of it. i would most certinaly watch it again. Pika took us and than i got some sweet/salty popcorn at the movie theatre and it was sooo good! yum yum! than on sat me, ben , and sam ended up playing 3 straight hrs of dutch blitz. it was a good time waster until lunch. after, i went to san jose with jayda, sam, ben and me. that was pretty good we just walked around and took a "scenic detour" more or less we missed our turn going to the artisan market and we ended up walking in san jose in an area that we didnt really recognize at all. that was fun than we found our wayy back and while crossing the street instead of slowing down, the bus sped up and just missed us. it was scary and the bus was realy stupid for speeding up. we were doing what were suppose to do but i guess the bus driver just doesnt like gringos...but it was all safe. after we got some ice cream, soft serve from McD's and of course its soo good. always is. ice cream is just amazing. after we got back and than there was supper. after supper a bunch of us played rage and that was really fun. i was in the lead the whole intire time until the 2nd last hand were i was forced, and i mean i had no choice that i had to beat and that made me lose so i got 2nd place. but thats okay. it was a fun game and good bonding time with all that rage at each other going on during the game :p haha jk. sunday came and i went to the english speaking church with Marcus family again and that was really good as usual. i checked out a young adult bible study i was invited to and it was on 1st peter and it was pretty good. ill prolly go again. after for the 2nd service there was a few ppl from Port there because they stayed the night at Beto's house and since he and his mom go to that church they came with him so it was nice to see some more ppl. after we had lunch than off to the soccer game! :) la liga against limon. more or less it was the elastic band against the lemon team!! haha. thats what it is in english so i had fun with that. la liga won - 2-0 and that was good. got some decent video footage.

it was pretty full for the game! some empty spots but for the most part.

theres me in the stadium!!
than we came back just in time for worship and than we had worship and that is always a blessing to have. than we had a hug fest and everyone hugged everyone. twas good. and that is my life up to now at Port! cheers! :)

Monday - Wednesday!

So Monday came around after the semana santa week and it was kinda difficult to get back into the swing of things but it was still good. so we had morning worship and than we had class on leadership. we more or less did our presentations. in the afternoon it was ministry time and we went there but there was construction going on and there was no building and so there was nothing for us to do. so we ended up going home. tehy are building a new one so hopefully its good next week and that gave me a free afternooon. and so i just chilled and what not. in the evening we had class on doctrine of christ again with don marco. good as usual! than on tuesday, we had family devo in the morning than a class on finishing up the presentations for leadership, than we had revelation, which im super stoked for since its my favorite book of the bible! and than we had a class on our ministrys. so 3 different thingsh happened that morning. in the afternoon it was ministry and i didnt do much. went for a run and did 7k. it was good. felt really good to run. than in the evening we had 2 more hrs on revelation and that was good. went a bit late but good none the less. on wed in the morning we had camineta and I was with isa. it was a very nice talk! nice to get caught up! and than work day! i was raking leaves once again. we got a lot done and i even got to go up on the boathouse on the roof with johannes. twas fun to be that high up and its not that scary either! lol. in the afternoon we had a missions trip meeting and than soccer game! it had been forever and we finally played soccer! it was soo nice to play soccer again! in the evening we had our special one night worship thing a month and it was focused on the missions trip and it was so good! :) and that was my first 3 days after semana santa! :) cheers!

Semana Santa! - Arenal! :)

So from wed - sat i was at arenal for semana santa :) the grou that went were...
evans and cristof, jayda, alyssa, gen, erin, and I. thats us at the beggining right before going to the waterfall. so we got there on wed and we just kinda relaxed and chilled and figured out our game plan. we decided to make our own food.

that was our first meal! it costs about a dollar each ish lol
after we went to the rope swing! that was super fun!!

went here last sem but it was so much funer this one!

pretty as ever! and than we came back and learned a new card game called up and down the river. it was super fun and we ended up playing it a lot. and i mean a lot. lol. the next day we had a breakfast which was awesome for being in a hostel, delicious and healthy. than we went up to a waterfall area!

thats our happy group at the entrance!

so pretty! quite a hike but once there it was so gorgeous!

thats the waterfall. you tried to get close to it but it was so powerful that the waves pushed you back so you couldnt get close to it which is prolly a good thing because it prolly could kill you.
after that we went up the cerro chato to go hike up that volcano which is no longer active and has a lagoon at the top!

it was a killer hike. the hardest ever and it was straight up hill and not the easist path to climb up but we got a great view out of the deal!

thats arenal which we could see pretty decent from cerro chato. it was really cool acutally because it was super cloudy and we couldnt see but when all of our group made it up there, it cleared up for a few min so we could see it than it clouded back over again. it was so cool!

such a pretty lagoon at the top! me and erin swam out to the middle of the volcano :) haha.
and than we hiked back down. it was super fast compared to going up and than we just relaxed for the rest of the day as we were all super exhausted and we played up and down the river again and made our dinner which costs under 2$ each person.

that was our 2nd meal.
the next day we rented bikes and were gonna go bike to the "poor man" hot springs but it was a lot of up hill and than we were so hot already we decided to turn around and not go anymore. we went to the rope swing instead.

it being friday it was super busy. and i mean full. i have never seen it so full ever! but it was nice just to relax and cool down. after we walked around town a bit, played up and down the river again and made our dinner again which was under 2$ as well per person.

so gourmet! so good! que rico!
after we played the same card game and than had rice pudding and tim tam slams! :) so delicious and good and just awesome.

thats the rice pudding! and it was yummy! we shared it with some other girls we met that were staying at the hostel with us. they acutually were at a different school in san jose so that was kinda cool to meet them and get to know them a bit. they even took the bus back with us.
and so than we read narnia and went to bed. the next day we just relazed and got ready to go. our bus was at 12:40 and there was a huge line up of ppl. they just kept selling tickets and it was def overcrowded so a bunch of ppl had to wait for another one. we managed to get a seat all together.

o ya, handicap spot was ours! we got to sit on the floor and we were able to play cards and it was the same game as usual. it was fun though and we kinda wanted to do that anyways so it worked out very well!

it was however super congested and cozy but it was fun. and than we came home and had communium and hung out at the fire and that was that. than i went with cody and katie to get pizza and we ended up watching xmen and that was fun than we watched taken and i went to bed quarter to 1...haha but it was good bonding time. and that was my weekend! cheers! :)