Love to print

VistaPrint is a great way to get free stuff that you may actually need!

I discovered VistaPrint last semester when my friend was making up her wedding invitations. She received 500 invitations for a little more than $100! That’s a fantastic deal! (I’m going to print my invitations with VistaPrint!)

VistaPrint even sends you e-mails to receive free products… you just have to pay for the shipping!

I’ve bought a few products from VistaPrint and so far I have found they have pretty decent quality, especially for the price (especially when they’re free!). I got some engagement announcement magnets (what would usually be save-the-date magnets), business cards for my dad’s handyman services, and even business cards for myself as a soon-to-be graduate!

If you need something printed up, check out www.VistaPrint.com and see what you can find! I would definitely recommend signing up for the e-mails and getting a peek at all the great freebies!

Bridal Hoppin’

My fiance and I are starting to plan our wedding, so about a week ago I went to a bridal hop in downtown Danville.

I went with my best friend from high school who is getting married in June. We had a lot of fun walking around downtown to all the shops participating in the bridal hop.

We had the opportunity to shop around and see what all the stores had to offer in the way of wedding planning. My favorite part was sampling Centre College’s catering! Near the library on campus (Carnegie Hall, I believe?), tables were set up with different place settings, and different themes and color schemes. It was really neat to see all the different options.

I also found out today that I won a prize from the bridal hop that I get to pick up this week! I wonder what it is?!

With all this excitement, I decided to really start figuring out a wedding budget… and it’s not cheap! Even if you want to go cheap, it still costs thousands of dollars.

Shouldn’t the marriage be more important than the wedding?

While you want to have that amazing photographer (Clay Jackson!), and preserve the memories of the wedding, I can’t help but think why spend so much money on all of this for one day? It’s crazy that you pay over $500, and in many cases much more, for a wedding dress that you will wear for a few hours and then never be able to wear it again!

While I’m planning our wedding, I hope I don’t get too caught up in it. Really, it should be about what comes after… the marriage. That’s what needs to be the focus… not the perfect flowers, cake and decorations, but how you can focus on leaning more toward a perfect marriage.

Nicaragua Day #9: January 13

This day was yet another amazing day in Nicaragua! It was our last day of true work/service because our very last day in Nicaragua was a sightseeing/fun day!

We started off the day with a pastor’s breakfast. Pastors from all over Managua traveled to the mission church where we stayed. I believe the pastors were all from the different feeding programs the mission sponsors, 120 total. Our team lead a service… we told testimonies, did our “Everything” skit, and then the pastor from the mission did the sermon.

We didn’t even have a translator for the sermon, but you could just tell it was a powerful one. A guy sitting behind us knew some English and he offered to try to translate for some of the team.

We were in charge of serving all the pastors their breakfast… rice, beans, and bread. I am impressed by the cooks at the mission. They are easily able to cook for so many people. It was kind of funny because we ran out of room on the counter to place plates before bringing them out, and the cooks just looked at us kind of funny then began stacking the plates on top of one another! We had a pile of plates of food spread out across the counter… it was probably close to ten plates high near the middle of the pile!

Later that night we lead our last youth service, which turned into a DANCE PARTY! As our trip went on we slowly learned the worship songs… or at least we thought we knew the chorus. (And funny thing… I’m listening to my iTunes right now and the song “Eres Todo Poderoso” just came on!)

Anyway, at the end of the service, the music turned into a concert/dance party! We just danced and hopped around with the youth… it was so much fun! If you want to get in shape, go to a Nicaraguan church service! It was very tiring and sweaty, but worth every last minute that we got to have fun and spend with the youth. Someone took a video of it, and I wish I had my hands on it so you could really see what I’m saying. It hard to explain how much fun you can have dancing to songs in a different language you barely know. But, it’s dancing with the people and having fun with those people in Nicaragua that matters the most.

After the night of dancing, we took the youth home on the mission’s bus. A few from our team went along for the ride to see where these kids live. That was also a fun experience… the bus was packed and there wasn’t even anymore room to stand. (That’s another funny thing about Nicaragua… you just pack people in whether there are seats or not, no big deal).

One of the youth, a teenage boy probably about 17-years-old, actually rents out a small room in a house. He works at the mission to make the little bit of money that he can to pay for his single room.

I miss those youth so much! They are so sweet and kind. I hope to go back to visit them sometime!

Back to Nicaragua Stories

Once again I apologize for the delay in Nicaragua stories. It’s been a little crazy, but that’s no excuse because I’ve been back from Nicaragua for over a month now!

Day #8– January 12: Our team decided God wanted us to go back to La Chureca, the dump, to spend time with the children and not bring any money this time. We all really felt like we should go back to the dump, so we did.

The little girl that clung to me the first time, Marianna, immediately found me.

Another girl came up to me and it looked like she had been crying. She seemed to be about 10-years-old and was wiping her eyes with a bandanna. Like I would usually ask any child (because I know minimal Spanish) I asked her, “Como Estas?” (“How are you?”). All the time I had been in Nicaragua, I never heard anyone say “malo” (“bad”), except for her. I tried asking her why, but she wouldn’t say anything. A few minutes later when no one else was around to hear she said some word that to me sounded like duele (which I thought was sick, but I think it’s means sleep) or dolare (dollar). I tried getting a translator; I told him I didn’t understand what the girl said “but it sounded like…”, then the girl came up, covered my mouth and pushed me back. As it turns out, I guess the girl didn’t want anyone to know she had some sort of sickness of the eyes, more than likely from all the smoke.

Another team member, Brittany, had been holding a 3-year-old girl with sores around her mouth, probably because of infection spread throughout her body that can’t be healed due to malnutrition.

As Brittany held her, she said she could feel the girl’s head slowly dropping because she was becoming weaker. Brittany couldn’t feel the girl’s heart beating anymore, and thought the girl had died in her arms. The girl is OK, but she was really weak. Another team member who is studying to be a doctor said that if the girl doesn’t get some sort of antibiotics soon, she could die.

In Nicaragua, health care is free, but they often can’t afford the medicine. It’s a sad situation that nothing can be done for them, while in America if something is wrong with us we can easily get the medicine we need and be completely healthy within a week. But in Nicaragua, they could die if they don’t get the medicine they need.

I really hated leaving the dump again. I really wish there were something we could do to help them, but I guess they don’t even know any better. They don’t know there’s a better life outside the dump (if they could find a job), but at least they wouldn’t be living in such harsh conditions with burning trash.

HAPPY BIR—SPLAT!!!

Today is my Dad’s birthday, he turned 52, which reminded me of a Nicaraguan birthday tradition!!

In Nicaragua on someone’s birthday, they smash eggs on the birthday person’s head!!

Now, I would have done that to dad, but he would probably get mad. I’m going to save the eggs for my fiance instead! He may get mad at first, but not for too long if he still wants to marry me!

When we were in Nicaragua, it was one of the translator’s birthdays… we got him once in the morning during breakfast. Then that night we celebrated his birthday and got him about five times in a row! Too bad his 3-year-old daughter was sitting next to him and started screaming and crying once she got splattered with egg!

It’s a pretty gross tradition… I wouldn’t want eggs on my head on my birthday, but maybe it would make my hair shiny?

Back to normal, not-quite-so-busy life

In my last blog, I was so busy. I’m still busy, but at least I don’t have a pageant and tests to worry about!

I had two more tests this week which means I’ve now had tests in all my classes so I should be good for another couple weeks. I did, however, get back my tests from last week… two of them were good reports, the last was the worst test grade I’ve ever received in my college history. I also discovered that because I got such a bad grade, there is no hope of getting an A in the class… ruining my 4.0 GPA in my last semester! I’m not so happy about it.

It’s sad that one test, during such a busy week that I don’t have time to study, can mess up my GPA just like that. There goes my hopes of being valedictorian.

Maybe I could drop to a psychology minor, instead of having a double major, and drop the class? I’m not going to use it anyway.

Tomorrow: PRSA luncheon in Louisville. Later: a weekend of relaxing at home! (I haven’t been home this whole semester, yet.)

Valentine pageant, Campus Times, 3 tests… then the rest of normal life

Shew! Life has been so busy lately! First, I want to apologize for being so slow about finishing my Nicaragua trip stories. There are only three more days to go in the trip, one of which is traveling back to the U.S.

Since Nicaragua, I have started back to school and I am in my fourth week of classes, which proves to make my life a mess of studying, practicing for the Valentine Pageant, editing stories for the newspaper, and then all the normal everyday things like going to class and working.

This week has been especially tough (and it’s ONLY Tuesday– or rather Wednesday at 1 a.m.). As student body president, I am in charge of putting together the annual Valentine Pageant which takes place this Friday. That hasn’t been too chaotic until now when I have three tests this week, and meetings and pageant practices each evening.

I’m not complaining about my life… I love staying busy! I just want you to get a feel for just how busy a college student becomes when they are really involved in campus life.

Sunday night, I got back to Campbellsville from a weekend with my fiance, and stayed up until midnight editing stories for Campus Times. Several of them were awful and I knew it, but I didn’t have time to get quotes from university sources at midnight to turn in a CD of stories by 9 a.m.

Monday night I had to study for a test for Tuesday, but ended up not doing much studying. Instead, I had to do homework for another class… lots of reading and writing a paper. The reading is actually really interesting, so I didn’t mind it… there was just so much of it and I had a test I should have been studying for. So, I ended up flipping through a tall stack of notecards once Monday night and once at 8 a.m. on Tuesday.

Tonight, well, it’s 1 a.m. if that tells you anything. After learning choreography at 5 p.m. to teach to the contestants at 7 p.m., we had pageant practice even though the weather outside was horribly icy. The pageant must go on! Once I finally get back to my room to do more work, I’m worn out. But, I finally wrote story on a “supercentarian” (110-year-old) celebrating her birthday with a 10-year-old… more about that story later! I also updated the pageant script, sent out several e-mails, and still I need to study for tomorrow’s test.

It sounds crazy, but somehow I get it all done. If you’re near Campbellsville Friday night, stop by the university’s Ransdell Chapel at 7 p.m. for our Valentine Pageant!

I’m out to get a good night’s sleep (we have a two-hour delay tomorrow because of snow!), and studying can wait for morning.

My favorite day in Nicaragua–January 11: Day#7

Imagine walking off a bus to the entrance of an orphanage and you’re greeted with a hug from each child in sight.

Yup, that happened!

Although we came there to show love to them, I immediately felt love from the children, which made for a great start to an awesome day!

Very soon into the day a shy 9-year-old named Julio attached to me and pretty much stuck by all day. We kicked a soccer ball around, played on the playground and just had fun hanging out!

After lunch, I discovered an 8-year-old boy named Michael. He’s been living in the orphanage for three years, and he is the sweetest child I have ever met! The wind would blow and he would block my eyes from the dust or push my hair back into place. He simply sat on my lap and appreciate the love that I could show him.

The whole team seemed to really enjoy visiting the orphanage. One of our guys got the nickname “spaghetti” (not exactly sure why)… all the boys were telling their nicknames.

It seemed so much easier to speak to the kids today. I think this is the first day I’ve REALLY connected with the Nicaraguan children. It was an amazing experience– I wish it could lost longer. I wish I could take one of them home with me!

Tomorrow, we’re going back to the dump. Our team decided we needed to go back– those kids need us more than anywhere we’ve been so far, and probably more than anywhere I will ever go in my life. I wish there was more that we could do for them!

One of my roommates found a scorpion in our room tonight. Instead of staying in the other girls’ rooms, we finally decided to switch rooms. Hopefully, there won’t be any more problems with tarantulas, lizards or scorpions.

January 10: Day #6

(Sorry there’s been a long delay in blogging… getting back into the swing of school is finally catching up to me! Nicaragua trip continued…)

Our first full Sunday in Nicaragua… and once again another indescribable day!

We lead a church service which consisted of a couple testimonies from our team, a skit (Lifehouse’s Everything… if you haven’t seen this before, you really must! Here’s the link on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA ), and a sermon. It’s amazing how it all tied together so well.

For those who haven’t seen the skit, it’s about a girl who falls into deep sin with boys, alcohol, greed, vanity, and eventually attempting suicide… but before she does this, she fights off all the evil and runs back to Jesus. Jesus was always there for her, but she couldn’t get to him because of all the sin in the way… but he fought for her once she was ready. It’s truly the most powerful skit I have ever seen, and it gives me cold chills everytime Is ee it. I’ve been a part of the skit several times as well, but never has it impacted the audience quite like this that I have seen.

I play the part of vanity, and Satan comes in right after me… this time we performed, it gave me chills as soon as my part was done! After the skit, a girl from the church got up and spoke, and she was crying. It’s amazing how even though the people in the church can’t understand the words, the skit still moved and touched them.

Chance, a student from Murray State University, preached the sermon over obstacles we must overcome. And I don’t know what it was about the whole service, but almost every adult member of that church come forward praying. It was an amazing experience to witness. In church’s at home, we’re lucky if one person goes forward, but in Nicaragua they are bold. They praise God at the altar… and I really don’t know what they were saying, but I could tell that God was in their hearts and He was touching lives in that church. And I think one of the best parts for me was that one of our translators got saved at this service! I never thought going into this trip that we would end up changing the life of someone we were working with during the whole trip, one of the translators.

Later that evening, we went to another church service. There I learned that one lady walks 10 kilometers to do her laundry. She leaves at 6 a.m. to walk down to the river and get her laundry done before the sun is high at noon. I can’t imagine walking that far to do laundry. At home, I walk down the hall. Or at school, I just have to walk up a flight of stairs. I cannot even imagine walking 10 kilometers to do laundry. In America if we had to walk that far, I think we would rather go buy more clothes.

Yet another night of creatures in our room… this time a baby tarantula in the bed. Sick!

January 9: Day #5

Nicaragua is beautiful! Beautiful people, beautiful scenery… beautiful all around!

We relaxed at the beach today with some youth, and it was amazing! Besides getting stung by a jellyfish, it was a great experience– the beach is so different than what I’ve ever seen!

The sand is almost black, there are no skyscrapers or resorts in sight (only huts), and there are thousands of tiny hermit crabs next to the surf burying into the sand.

And a bonfire at sunset… simply breathtaking!

The youth girls surprised our team with homemade artwork gifts. The Nicaraguans, even though many hardly have anything, are SO generous!

On the way to the beach, one of the youth bought ice cream for all the boys on our mission team. The boy rents a room for himself, and I’m sure it was a big sacrifice for him to buy ice cream– yet he did it out of the kindness of his heart.

Tonight we found both a lizard and a cockroach in our room so my roommates and I slept in with the other girls on our team in a different room. We’d rather not have any lizards crawl into bed with us.