These are my first pair of TOMS shoes I got about two years ago at a Style Your Sole event to raise funds for my trip to Uganda with my church.These shoes have taken me many places.All over southern California,All over Uganda,They have even gone down the American River in Northern California on multiple white water rafting trips.Now they take me all around Namibia,Or in todays case on my walk to work.I love these shoes.TOMS shoes are not only comfortable but they are a great organization that donates a pair of shoes to a child in need everytime you purchase a pair. Its a one for one concept.I wonder what it would take to get them to donate to the OVCs here in Northern Namibia? Most of the children walk around barefoot or in some type of 'China Shop' flip flops.Shoes are very important here. Earlier this year I learned just how important. I got a parasite in my foot in the form of a worm because I was walking around barefoot in the sand.My learners look at my shoes funny every time I wear a pair of TOMS because they think they look like slippers... they just don't understand why I wear them.I know this is kind of a random post, but I am random, what more would you expect from me. :) Aside from my TOMS shout out, I am doing well.School is going great. The learners are taking their term one exams this month and we get the month of May off. I plan to travel a little and work at my OVC (Orphans and Vulnerable Children Org- Oonte OVC Org). Easter weekend was great. I got a four day weekend and visited Ruacana Falls about 3 hours NW of here. It was gorgeous but the 500 stairs to the bottom really sucked when we had to climb back to the top of the falls back to the bakki. Anyone that knew me during my college waterpolo years knows what happens to me when you mix in lots and lots of stairs... it isn't pretty. :)Life is amazing and I feel very blessed to be here.I'm happy. :)

Happy Easter!!!

So this weekend was an adventurous one. I had good Friday off work so a few friends and I journeyed about 300k north/west almost to Angola to Ruacana falls. It's a beautiful giant waterfall that flows on the Zambezi river... and its the biggest waterfall I have every seen... I haven't seen many. It was beautiful... except for the 450+ slippery stairs you had to walk to get to the bottom of the falls and then you had to climb them to get back up to the road/cars. It was straight up and so tiring... Anyone that ever played polo with me in college knows what happens when I run stairs... lets just say my stomach doesn't like them! :) That night we camped along side the river at a campground called Hippo Pools, they don't have hippos but they do have crocodiles. Rick, my fellow volunteer/friend that lives in town near me, had never been camping and the collective group of us were not very prepared. We arrived with two hammocks and a tent. The town we were dropped off in had no grocery store so we bought cans of beans, a loaf of bread, and a jar of peanut butter from the gas station to eat for dinner and breakfast. We arrived at the campsite after climbing the waterfall and set up our tents then we went in search of firewood, or in our case twigs that Rick set up into a fire-less stack of firewood. hahahaha. We had no matches. Thankfully there was a nice Afrikaner family staying nearby that gave us some matches and fire starters. We sat around the fire and had a great time. The next day we started our journey back home. We started walking what we thought wouldn't be too tough of a walk back to the falls... wrong... it was uphill at about a 30-40% incline and was killer... thankfully I flagged down a truck driving towards the falls and a nice man drove us to the falls and to town. It was a short weekend trip but it was a great one. I also got to see a few friends I haven't seen in a while which was super nice.

Today I arrived back home to my own bed... there really isn't anything that feels more like home then your own bed. :)

I got home and started uploading some pictures from my trip and then started going through my old pictures. I found a copy of a video all of my friends and family made for me right before I left for Namibia... watching the video made me realize how truly blessed I am! I live in a beautiful country and have amazing people here and back home who love and support me. This wasn't my traditional Easter holiday of egg hunting, church, and tons of food spent at home with my family, but it was a great one filled with gratitude for my God who died for me and loves me and has blessed me with sooooo much in life. I am eternally grateful! I pray that all of my family and friends are happy and healthy. I know I am. :)

Today I am flying home back to Namibia from a well spent week filled with lots of food, love, and memories made back in the states. It was a whirlwind of a trip but was sooo worth it! I saw a lot of people and witnessed the marriage of Alison and Sean. A lot of people have asked me how I am liking Namibia... let me put it this way, I miss my family and friends dearly but as soon as I set foot in Johannesburg I felt homesick... for Nam. I think some of it has to do with how developed the airport was and how many people are there hustling around... it just really made me really overwhelmed and miss my home. Today I have spend over 24 hours traveling/in the air and still am not in my new home country. I am merely hours away and am so excited but nervous for the rush of emotions I most likely will be hit with. Being a Peace Corps volunteer is an amazing opportunity but is emotionally draining at times. I feel like I was made for this job... I might not feel like I have done much yet but the fact that I love what I do and the people I meet means something, right? Enough for now. I just wanted to check in and say how great my visit back home to the States was.

Happy Namibian Independence Day! 22 years strong!

So life lately hasn't been that great for me... for a few personal reasons. But... I am choosing to change my view on how things are going and be grateful.

I LIVE in Africa. How many people do you know that have actually lived in Africa? Let alone anywhere outside of the US? At least one... me!

There are these beautiful sunflowers they grew at my OVC. They are seriously the most beautiful sight... I'll post pictures soon to prove how gorgeous they are!

The toddler aged kids here are so precious. At least one if not 12 run out and greet me with a big hug when I arrive to work at my OVC. How can that not make my days start off great?

I met the US Ambassador and PEPFAR Coordinator this week at my OVC. They are like celebrities here in Namibia. They were very nice and loved Oonte OVC. Why wouldn't they? It's a blessing to get to work here!

I do know something about business and have something to offer my learners (students). Most of the grade 10 learners passed their first exam with flying colors! That is huge here! :) I also started a tuck shop (snack bar type store the learners will eventually run). I am excited to teach some of our top learners some skills in depth and help them put those skills to practice.

-Funny story. I opened our tuck shop last Friday for break and I think more learners came by to watch me or look at me then to buy stuff. It's funny because I stand in front of them all in class and they still can't get enough of looking at me. I just laugh and greet them.

Namibia has been pretty good on my self esteem. I have been told by many people how amazing I am. :) There have even been many proposals and professions of love! hahaha. That too makes me laugh out loud!

There is usually a lightning and thunder storm daily and they are amazing! It’s like a free ticket to Mother Nature’s own light show and is so pretty.

I have made some amazing friends. One of my best friends here happens to be a 41 year old man (a fellow PVC)... when you meet the two of us individually you'd never guess we'd hang out... but together we rag and tease each other to know end. It's pretty hilarious. There are some other PCV's who help keep me sane and love me for me. They are all amazing! They come to town often and hang out with us... people don't really go to the village to hang out, so I consider myself super lucky.

The locals are amazing as well. Everyone I work with is so sweet and friendly and they answer all my crazy questions. I am lucky to work with these people. Some of the other volunteers tell stories of conflicts and lazy co-workers and it just makes me so grateful for everyone around me.

I live in a "village" in town. I live a 20 minute walk (2-3 km) to the road which is town. My volunteer friends tell me my house is not in a village because it is so close to town and most everyone speaks English. It's true, I am so lucky. I live in a newer house with my Meme and Tate (mom and dad) that has a bathroom with a flushing toilet and a shower and the whole house has electricity.

I go home to visit my family and friends in a little less than two weeks! I am so excited and am so blessed to get to witness the marriage of two amazing friends! Thank you, Linda. Your gift of bringing me home for Al's wedding is one of the best gifts ever!

I get to Skype with my family and friends fairly often helping me to not get homesick.

As far as the personal things... life goes on. We learn from our trials and tribulations and I am grateful for them because they will make me into a stronger better person. I am just so thankful for the blessings God has showered me with.

Love you all!

On a side note... I wish these flies would drown in my half full glass... they are so annoying and relentless! :)

Ok, so i have seen many people post packing lists for coming to Namibia but most of the lists were written by guys. Though they were somewhat helpful... I'm a girl and items are considerably different in some departments.

Bags:OGIO duffel with rollers looking thing... its huge but held the majority of my stuff... its sturdy as well. :) We were worried about it being too big for the airlines but they never said a word.Hiking backpack from REI- I suggest going in and being fitted... I went in and they ordered me a metro pack without sizing me and its great for a short person... I'm not short. The good thing is it has a smaller backpack that attaches too it so I had an extra bag to store stuff. :)OGIO backpack that held and protected all my electronics. (It was my carry-on)These are the things that I packed and how useful I found them.

Clothing Items:Dress pants-2 (I brought 2 pair and my mom sent me a 3rd) Skirts-3 (remember it gets hot and kinda humid so light weight stuff is nice, darker colors makes for multiple wears, we have to hand wash everything!)Dress shirts- 8 (I brought some shirts I am able to dress up or dress down)Leggings- 2 (love them!!)Dresses- 4 (I was also sent two more by my mom... I actually wear them a lot. Plus bring one or something nice for swearing in)Jeans- 2 (one pair cropped and one pair long... its hot in the north and i haven't worn the long pants often)Casual pants/cargos- 2 (They dry much faster and are cooler but sadly mine are worn out and must be retired... they were older when I got here and the hand washing was a bit much on them)Tshirts-10 (I'm guessing that's how many I brought)Tank Tops- 6 (I layer shirts... but wear them a LOT)Long sleeve shirts- 2 Underwear- a lot!!!! (hahaha... My mom has an obsession with giving underwear with every gift... so I have a ton!)Bras- 8 (I brought a ton of bras because they are not of very good quality here... plus 3 sports bras)Flip Flops- 3 pair (I'm a California girl and live in them. I've worn through one pair of rainbow's already. Bring a pair of plastic cheap ones, you'll want them for when you do laundry, shower, or things that you don't mind them getting dirty or wet.)Chacos-1 (I bought these and have maybe worn them 6 times since I've been here. They are comfortable but I'm not a big fan myself... I'm a die hard flip flop wearer I guess.)Toms- 3 pair (I love Toms and what the org does. I wear my black toms with my skirts and stuff. They are holding up pretty well here... except for rainy season and walking through puddles and mud... no traction or water protection. Though some learners will stare at your feet or ask why you are wearing slippers.)Dress shoes- 1 pair (I'd suggest more then one pair. I brought a pair of old flats and have feet bigger then a size 10 so I can't really buy many more here... they are hard to find. I'd suggest multiple pairs if you have bigger feet. Dressy sandals are great as well)Tennis shoes- 1 pair (I've worn them a few times but not much. Its too hot in the north for me to wear shoes) Gloves (1pair) and Scarves (2)- I live in the north and it has yet to get cold enough for either of these but they didn't take up much space. Cardigans- 4 (During PST they didn't like us to wear sleeveless dresses or tops at all so I wore a cardigan with most of my outfits)Sweaters- 2 (I've worn them a few times when not in the north)Heavy(warmer) sweater/jacket- 1 (I haven't worn it... we'll see if I do in the winter)Socks- 6? (two pair of crazy thick socks- I have worn them on the three cold nights we've had. :) 4 pair of ankle socks)Hats- 4 (1 hat, 1 beanie, 2 cute lightweight beanies for days I need to cover my dirty hair... the HAT is a must... I've worn it and it saves me from the crazy powerful sun)Windbreaker- 1 (haven't worn it yet)Flannel PJ bottoms- 2 pair (I have worn them a few times)Running/PJ shorts- 3 pair (I live in them when home)(During PST they stress that you dress business casual... Beware of tank tops/sleeveless shirts... They don't like them at PST but at site I am OK.)

*also keep in mind that this is Namibia and mostly desert... its hot so choose breathable clothes and easy to wash stuff.

Electronics:

1 Netbook (its lite and portable)1 External hard drive (500gb) (I was stressing because I don't know how to download movies to it or steal from the Internet... but everyone else in PST had a butt load of movies and TV shows... We share, because sharing is caring. :))1 External DVD/CD player/burner (I have a netbook without the CD drive... this way I can watch movies my family has sent me)IPod- (I love it!!! I have speakers to hook it up to or I walk through my village to work or to town listening to it... It makes me happy.)Digital Camera (with an extra memory card)Nook Book- Love it...I have access to WiFi occasionally but I have trouble updating or downloading new stuff at times. Maybe check out kindles ability to upload via plugging it into your own computer.Flash drives- I brought one and more sent to me... You'll want a few. Other Stuff:

3 headlamps (I have used maybe one but I am happy to have them... I don't like the dark)1 small(tiny) maglight flashlight (My family calls it my torch... I have used it when the power goes out during storms or when we are trying to kill a snake on the homestead at night)Journals- like 5... I'm not a journaler so I have yet to make it half way through one :)Pens- I brought a handful and maybe have 5 now... They walk away all the time... I suggest having family send you promotional pens when they send you stuff... that's what i am doing.Envelopes and paper- I brought maybe 20 and still have some stashed.Meds (bring the stuff you absolutely have to take... but all the over the counter stuff like pepto and stuff.. they will give you within a few days. I'm running out of ibuprofen so I'd recommend bringing a decent sized bottle. I have a ton of the other stuff that I haven't even touched)Deodorant- Bring alot and ask people to send you some. (The stuff they have here is anti perspirant... the stuff at home is that plus deodorant)Toothpaste and toothbrushes- 2 each (you can get these easily here)Feminine Hygiene products- I use the Diva cup and have a few of their pads and am very grateful that I bought it... saves a ton on money and is pretty convenient. They sell OB tampons here and some pads but they are crazy expensive.Makeup- I didn't bring much and actually had my sister send me some more mascara and eyeliner. I sweat so much here that I don't even bother with powder or cover up or anything. Sunblock- I brought Neutrogena faces and LOVE it! Peace Corps will give you quite a bit as well and will give more on request... but bring face sunblock if you break out easily... the stuff we get is super thick.Hand Sanitizer- 5 mini bottles (I have maybe used one bottle. I live and work where there is running water and I have soap.)Fingernail clippers- 2 pairs (Bring them!)Tweezers- 2 (never know when you'll need them.. either to get a thorn out of your foot or pluck your insanely bushy eyebrows)CHAPSTICK!!!- 5 tubes? (I'd die without chapstick... I'm a little addicted. My mom sends me tubes of burts bees every care package. It gets hot and dry.)Umbrella- I brought a compact one and carry it daily... you never know when it'll begin pouring. I also got a free MTC one here and its huge and sturdy. :)Mosquito repellent- I brought a can and have used it a few times. When I go out I usually borrow some... so it is a good thing to have. Mosquito bites on your feet and ankles are the WORST!!!Lotion- I didn't really use it back home in Cali but when I got here my skin was crazy dry so I bought some. Its pretty good stuffGifts for your host fam- I really didn't bring anything for my fam because my mom was mailing me stuff... It didn't get here in time so I ended up printing and framing a picture of my mom and sisters for my fam.Shampoo and Conditioner- you can get it here but I recommend bringing some good conditioner... my hair got crazy dry and falls out like no other.Curl cream- If you have curly hair bring lots of the product you plan to use. I don't use much but have run out of the two bottles I brought and I have yet to find anything other then gel.Hair ties/bobbi pins- bring plenty... they disappear sometimes.Bear Grylls Tool- its like a leatherman/Swiss army knife but cooler because Bear Grylls designed it... and lets face it Bear Grylls knows survival and is HOT :)Bear Grylls ultimate survivor kit- my brother decided he'd rather me be safe then sorry... there is like a snare and flint and stuff in it... hahaha... I have used the small knife though and LOVE IT!Razors- I bought a pack of 12 disposables and have maybe used 4... It gets tiring shaving while taking cold showers... or some bucket bathe. The razors here are super expensive.Sheets!- I brought one and am planning on getting some more from home. I'd suggest bringing full size flat sheets... the sheets here are not very good. Ziplocks- I have used a few but not too many.Nail polish and remover- My feet may be constantly dirty but my toes always look cute. :) Its the little things. Plus I painted my host sisters toes and they LOVED it!Purse/bag- I suggest something that doesn't look expensive. I brought a hobo style fabric bag I had made for me in Uganda. The nicer your stuff looks the more likely of being mugged... or so I hear. :)Bathing suit- 2 (we (Namibia) are on the coast! Plus there are lodges or homes with pools scattered all over Namibia.)Bandannas- 2 (I haven't used them... but maybe I will someday)Towel- I brought a towel and washcloth... you can get both here but they can cost a pretty Namibian penny. We have these shetange's that are a strip of fabric that some people use... i prefer a towel. I'd bring a few washcloths... they come in handy when bucket bathing and also when washing dishes.Nalgene bottles!!!! I live out of my nalgenes... they last forever! Other bottles work too but so far my nalgene is winning. I also have a Columbia aluminum bottle that works well.Sleeping bag. Go for something light and compact... you'll definitely use it!!!Sewing kit... I have had to mend quite a few things.Scissors- you never know when you'll need them. I've used mine.Bottle opener key chain- I didn't bring one and hate asking people to open my coke with their teeth... makes me cringe.Glasses/sunglasses- I brought two pairs of glasses and three pairs of sunglasses. You can get cheap sunglasses here from the China shops but I like my stuff from home. :) Its seriously bright here.-I know this is a crazy long list and crazy unorganized but I hope it helps anyone preparing for this awesome country! :) Also, I know I forgot a ton of stuff but feel free to comment with any questions you may have.

Happy Valentines Day to all back home!

Things are still going pretty well here. I love it really.

School is doing well, I'm working with my counterpart on teaching entrepreneurship and starting a tuck shop (basically a snack shop for the learners to run).

My OVC is a little uneventful at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I love it there but there isn't much to do right now. We had a meeting with a German Org last week and hopefully they are going to help us find some funding or a partnership to improve and expand our garden and farming projects. I love it when I walk to work because every time I arrive I am greeting by about 20 preschool children who run up to me calling out 'shilumbu' meaning white person and they all wait for a hug from me. I love kids! :)

Weather. It is supposed to be the rainy season right now but if it is, this is the driest rainy season I have ever seen! Last year there were record rains and lots of flooding... it looks like we might have a dry season instead... who knows. It has been pretty hot here but bearable.

I get to go home for a week long visit in one month and I am so excited! I can't wait to see my family and friends! I am actually coming home to attend Alison and Sean's wedding... I can't wait! :)

I know this blog post is pretty boring but its better then nothing right?

I remember when I was applying for the Peace Corps I would read current volunteers blogs and was always so frustrated when people didn't update their blogs often. Well, being on the other side of the spectrum now I can say that life just doesn't seem exciting enough to write home about. I know its crazy awesome and unreal to say that I LIVE in Africa... but I have grown accustomed to living here.

My life consists of walking crazy distances to get places, that's normal for me now.

I pick up bugs that are crawling on me with my fingers, rather then freak out and swat them away.

I wash my hair every other day... that would very very very rarely happen back in the states.

Sand in my food is normal. When I went to Uganda I would get an occasional pebble and would lose my appetite... now I just pick it out if its too big to chew. :)

I wash all of my clothes by hand and it takes close to 3 hours to wash it all... that's not including dry time.

I eat a TON of peanut butter sandwiches... its kind of a staple food for me.

I have great boobs! hahahaha.... sorry if that's TMI but I have been told a lot lately how great my boobs really are.

I drink water from the bathroom sink like nobody's business... It's really quite tasty.

It's not weird for a car/truck/bakki/complete stranger to pull over and offer me a ride to wherever I am walking to... It actually makes my day. :)

I am often approached by children who constantly tell me 'give me one dollar' which I reply with 'you give ME one dollar!'

I read an insane amount... Thank goodness for my nook and the crazy awesome library at our local PC office. I've read about 25 books since I landed in Namibia. (seriously, the list is on the right side of this blog!)

The sunsets here are unreal! They are so beautiful that it amazes me!

I love it here, I truly do!

I thank God for sending me here!

In America we have some crazy stuff, but in Namibia there's even crazier stuff. :)

These are a few of the random things that I always think of while walking around and want to share with you all but can never think of once I'm actually in front of the computer.

Frogs. Did you know frogs hibernate? I didn't. So we have what is called a rainy season. This rainy season can begin as early as December and go until as late as May. Rainy season pretty much means flood season. It rained a little in December and then it stopped and dried up, but with that first rain I began to notice frog cakes everywhere... that is the nice way of saying flat, ran over, dead frogs. :) I asked my friend why I didn't notice them before and he said they hibernate under ground and once the rains come they are EVERYWHERE! He wasn't joking, they are EVERYWHERE! Quite often I find my self singing the little green frog song as I walk through my village and notice all the little tiny frogs EVERYWHERE. One morning I was walking and saw a guy carrying a string with about 25 big frogs on it... They actually looked like the singing frog guy from WB (I know, old school).

Prickly branches. All the trees and bushes here have these insane spikes all over them! They are on everything and when you step on them they really hurt! Trust me, I know from experience. I think its so weird how everything has these thorny long spikes and still the goats and cows gnaw away at they branches eating the leaves. So weird.

Russian Hawks. So one day I was hanging out at my friend Daryl's house when he yelled for me to hurry and run outside. He pointed up at the sky and there flying above us were hundreds of these hawk like birds flying all over the place. It was seriously cool and creepy at the same time. He explained to me that every year around this time these hawks migrate from Russia or somewhere around there to Namibia. I thought it was pretty interesting. Then last week, I was sitting in my room reading when I looked out the window and saw the very same Russian hawks swarming around my house and in the fields surrounding my homestead. It was crazy! I wanted to go outside but couldn't help but think of the movie 'the birds' and freaked out a little. :)

Flies. Holy cow. They are always here but with the rain they have gotten worse and multiplied like no other. When I walk to town I walk for about 20 minutes or about 2 km through my village. I start at my house and as soon as I leave the homestead a fly decides to join me on my walk and fly circles around me occasionally flying into my face but then continues to fly circles around me the whole 2km!!! It's really annoying but kind of funny at the same time. Do they get dizzy? We'll never know.

Cows. Most Namibian people judge their wealth by the amount of cattle they own. My family has about 20-30, we also have three baby cows that are super cute... but they have to stay on our homestead during the day because they are too little to go grazing with all the big kids because they might wander off or get lost. Toward the end of the day the babies really miss their mom so they start mooing and then the moms come and start mooing back. If there are people outside the mom will even growl at them... I didn't know cows growled, I do now. So walking around the village, usually toward town, there are cows everywhere. They stare you down when you walk by and I can't help but wonder if a person has even been attacked by a cow just from walking by? I should google it. Anyway, with lots of cows comes lots of cow poop. I used to not mind it so much because it gets so hot here the poop dries up and wont stick to your foot. With rainy season here, it doesn't dry out as fast or it stays very very wet... it makes walking around that much harder, I now have to watch every step I take and hope not to slip in cow poo.

I have more random facts for you all but I will save those for another day.... maybe a rainy day... since the rainy season is officially here!

School has started and the first two weeks were dreadfully boring, but today I got to team teach with my counterpart. I helped her teach 8 classes of Entrepreneurship and it was actually fun! The kids get involved and actually like to participate, it was awesome. I am loving it here more and more every day. I really am enjoying myself and learning a lot about others as well as myself.

I miss you and love you all dearly! (that was to my family and friends...)

So, to the strangers out there who might happen to stumble upon my blog, thanks for reading! :) Peace out!

Oh my goodness, where to start?

First, let me start by saying Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

This holiday season did not feel like a holiday season one bit, but it was still spent with great friends. I spent both holidays at "the rest camp" with Rick and some of our Afrikaaner friends. They had private parties and we were invited. :) Christmas was more of a birthday party for one of the owners and his twin brother and new years eve was... well, new years eve. :)

I spent the days in between lounging around at my friends house watching TV and sleeping in an air conditioned room... I am truly spoiled. :) Plus, he cooked for me.

Now, for the true Peace Corps travel experience.

This past Tuesday my friend, Rick, and I traveled from Ondangwa to Rundu. Rundu is about 6-7 hours away and is located in the North East part of Namibia. You must travel south from Ondangwa for about 2.5 hours and then north east for about 3.5-4 hours. With my being a lady, we were able to travel the entire way free... well, mostly free. We hitch-hiked and were picked up by some very nice people. Our last ride was in a flat bed tow truck and the guy let us only pay $20 each instead of $100+ he charged the other passengers. We arrived around 6:30pm to find our friend Gio's, who was supposed to come pick us up, phone had turned off and we didn't know where he lived. Luckily our friend Alice had arrived in town that afternoon and came and got us before the sun went down. Phew. That night we hung out at Gio's house and ate burgers they made us for dinner. The following day we decided to venture around town and stop in to see one of Gio's new friends about taking us on a sunset river cruise. We arranged for the cruise and all was set for that evening, we were even invited to stop by early to swim in their pool before the cruise.

Fast forward to 6pm when we are heading over to the river lodge for our cruise. The owner/friend gave us directions via a map he drew telling us where to go. Gio's taxi driver friend and neighbor both drove all of us to the river lodge/rest camp to go on this cruise. Well somehow we got lost. We made a lot of wrong turns and were off roading through the Rundu bush. Imagine an OLD tiny car driving through tons of weeds and grass on the faintest "road" aka tire tracks. Well, it got to the point where the driver said he knew where we were trying to go but there were these big 'puddles' we couldn't drive through. So we decided to foot it (walk there). We started walking through the first puddle... it went about mid calf. We walked through a couple more 'puddles' some of which went to our knees and were so murky and slimy is was disgusting but we kept walking because we were told that we were very close. Mind you, our driver had never been there, he was just assuming. Arg. After about half an hour of footing it through they ponds/puddles we climbed a fence because Gio swore this was his friends property, little did we know it was not and we were trespassing on someone elses land. Oh goodness. Thankfully the owners were very friendly and told us to keep walking about 200m down the road. We walked a little ways more and decided to try another property. The lady at this property told us to keep walking another 200m to the right house. We had lost sight of our car long ago, the sun was setting, we had no clue where we were going, the landscape was similar to a jungle/plain (if that makes sense), we were LOST. We stopped at another property and discovered our destination was next door. We arrived as the sun set and were lucky enough to see the beautiful sky as the sun set reflect off of the Kavango River, it was absolutely beautiful! Afterwards we decided to have a few beers with the owner at his bar, a few turned into a handful and around midnight our taxi driver friend told us he must get home. The owner was nice enough to have someone drive us to our car since it was so far away. What an adventure, right?

It's not even the end of our night/adventure. We started driving to find our car and we are in the bush so there is no light other then the car headlights and what little light the moon was providing us. We drove down a road the taxi driver thought was the right way. Wrong. We drove around for a good 20 minutes when the driver suggested we all just stay the night at the rest camp and he will help us find our car the next morning. All of us volunteers were a little tipsy and super giggly... well, I was super giggly, whats new? :) It was around then that our taxi driver, who is now sitting outside the window spots the reflection of our license plates!!! It was like finding a needle in a hay stack, but we found it. We found our way to the main road eventually and headed back to Gio's house. It was a night for the books for sure.

The next morning we headed back toward Ondangwa with Ryan and Gio to come see our neck of the woods. It took us a while to get a hike out of Rundu but we were all persistent and got our free hike. All four of us crammed into a tiny space in the back of a truck... I would guess that it was approximately 4x4 ft. We all fit and road in the most awkward positions at time but were good sports about it. It was nice traveling with these guys because no one complained once as we travelled. Except for Gio... He almost had an accident in the back and we had to flag down the drivers as fast as we could to pull over... we had a GREAT laugh at Gio's expense. We arrived home safely that afternoon. Hiking with three guys is challenging, I like to wait and work my charm for a free hike, the boys just wanted to get home... meaning we paid. It was a fun trip and I have truly enjoyed my month off for the Holidays. Tomorrow I start work and am not that excited about it but know I have to start eventually. I must admit I am a little nervous but all will be fine, I just need to find my feet. :)

Love you all! Happy New Year!

So, I'm still alive and kicking. I've been super busy with work stuff and fun stuff, so I apologize for being such an anti-social blogger. :) I am doing well here in Namibia. School is officially over for the month so I have been on "holiday" for the past three weeks. The first week of December was spent at a conference for Peace Corps called reconnect, it's basically a week of more training in Windhoek to check in with us all to see how the first two months at site have been. From Windhoek I traveled to Swakupmond, a beach town where people from all over the world come to spend the holiday, Angelina Jolie had one of her kids in Swakupmond. :) It was a good holiday at the beach but was too cold to go in the water and I was in a house with 6 twin beds and 21 other people... a little too crowded for my liking. But fun times were had.

Hiking from Windhoek to Swakupmond. I have discovered that dancing while waving down cars is extremely effective. Also, It doesn't hurt to have boobs. :)

The sunset over the African Atlantic Ocean. B-e-a-utiful.

The first hike of the day heading back up north toward home.

My first solo free hike. It was in the back of a bakki and this was my view for almost the whole day. Amazing. Fyi- hitch-hiking is not that bad here. It's actually safer then most paid transportation.

This past Sunday I traveled back up north to Ondangwa to spend the holiday with a few friends and near my home. It doesn't really feel like Christmas at all and is so wierd to see everyone posting on facebook about shopping and preparing for the festivities. It makes me a little homesick but I am trying my best to keep busy and enjoy life and my time here in Namibia.

I know this sounds super ridiculous but it's so wierd to me that life is actually moving along back home. Today I woke up to find out my best friend is engaged!!! It is really hard for me missing all of this. I'm very happy for them both but very homesick.

I have made some amazing friends here who are taking extra good care of me and even some local Afrikaaners (white Africans/Namibians) who are treating me like a queen (maybe not exactly like a queen but they are taking care of me).

One of my Afrikaaner friends took me to this awesome tree that have a tiny church inside of it. God's work at its best. Amazing!

I also got mail today. I got an envelope filled with birthday letters from my sister Heidi's first grade class... they were AMAZING!!!

I also got my package from my family with the CUTEST pillow case in it... hahahaha... it is covered in old fashioned pin up style guys decked out in christmas underwear... hahaha... it is the greatest!

I am still doing really well here and am excited for the new year. I will actually start working and am a little nervous to start but know that I will find my feet and will work hard to succeed.

This Christmas is gonna be an emotional one but I am happy to be here and know I will be ok. I hate being so emotional at times but I wouldn't be me if I weren't. :)

I love you all and wish you all the best Christmas holiday and the happiest New Year.

I LOVE...

Walking around my village or town and white people staring at me because I am living as a local...

Greeting people in their native tongue and the smile that spreads across their faces...

My amazing friends and family here mo(in)America na(and) moNamibia...

Explaining to my colleagues that not all Americans are white and act the same...

When kids come up to me and tell me to give them money, I look at them and tell them to give Me money. They just stare in confusion, I stare at them very serius. Afterwards, I laugh...

Riverside, California...

Namibia. The whole country...

Learning about a new culture while teaching about mine...

Explaining that Americans do have a culture, not just one but many...

That when it is 'balls hot' and humid outside, that means the rain is coming. Sure enough it is here by that afternoon...

No matter how hard I try to speak proper English, Namlish always makes an appearance when speaking to people...

Getting letters and love mailed to me from home... (hint hint ;))...

These are a few of the things that I feel so blessed by and love about my current home and life.

Last Saturday I got to hang out with about 30 others PCV's at a local rest camp to celebrate our new group of volunteers coming to the north/Halloween/and MY birthday and my friend Danny's birthday too. I had an amazing time. There was beer and booze consumed by all but I was always safe and used my head(I promise mom and dad, I was smart but still had fun!). The rest camp we stayed at is owned by some local Afrikaaners (native white people) and one of the groups that was there was a bachelor party. Once they found out it was my birthday lets just say I didn't have to buy any more drinks and drank some interesting stuff. Mostly the night consisted of getting to know my fellow volunteers that I will be serving with over the next two years, it was a lot of fun.

Yesterday, my real birthday, was pretty great as well. I started it out by talking to some of my family at midnight (happy hour is unlimited internet use from midnight-6am for N$10 for a week, awesome deal). I woke up and opened some cards that were sent with me before I left home in August and they were all so sweet! I definitely felt their love from so far away. I was picked up by my OVC supervisor to attend a meeting about partnering with a local organization, when I came outside she sang happy birthday to me. Her daughter, who works with us at the OVC, who also happens to be my first Namibian friend and facebook friend, saw it on facebook and they were so sweet wishing me happy birthday along with many blessings. The day went pretty great, our meeting was very productive and successful. After work my host family all wished me happy birthday.

Some exciting news: there are a few new members of our family that share a birthday week with me. Yesterday I noticed a cow outside of my window mooing like crazy... I looked outside below my window to see her newborn calf walking around inside our gated homestead. My family has cows that they bring into a corral at night and during the day let them out to graze, the baby is too little to be outside all day so we have what I like to call calf daycare on our homestead to ensure his safety (I'm assuming it's a boy, I don't see any utters). So we have a new baby calf and I also stumbled upon 5 new puppies that were born on Monday as well. I love baby animals so it is the best birthday presents ever!!! :)

I apologize for the length of this wordy blog, but i had a lot to say.

I feel very blessed to be here in Namibia learning and sharing my culture. Thank you to everyone that supports me and loves me for simply being my perfectly imperfect self.

Disclaimer: some of the details mentioned below might gross you out. Don't judge me, I'm living in a third world country in the Peace Corps.

With that said, here are some of the things that I find very different here in Namibia.

Potty Training: Lets just say I have been peed on multiple times in the past month. I had a host cousin that had a baby, he was the cutest 4 month old, but his diapers was a towel. Whenever I would hold him, the pee magically didn't soak into the cloth but soaked my shorts. Children(toddlers) here who are not potty trained just pee whenever. For example: I am standing in church singing when my feet are splattered with a liquid. I look over and my 3 year old niece just peed in my sisters arms, they acted as if it were nothing.

BUGS!!! Bugs here have 9 lives just like cats. I have killed many different bugs, mostly cockroaches, with my shoes and I get them good. But, they tend to come back to life, injured and all they try to crawl around. I hit them again and again. It grosses me out and I squeal just about every time!!!

Mosquito's- I HATE you!!!! I am not one to use the word hate often, its a very strong word and I more often strongly dislike something rather then hate. But these blood thirsty annoyances are on my extremely short HATE list. I can hear them flying around me but can't see them so it makes me paranoid. I have five bites at the moment and they itch so bad!!!!

Wall Spiders- We have these giant spiders that lay flat against the wall and move faster then I ever could. They are found everywhere here and are not really killed often because they eat the enemy, Mosquito's!!! I currently have one chilling on my curtain near my bed, I haven't decided if I will let it stay that close to where I sleep.

Food- I have had traditional fish and regular fish here and they both aren't bad. I kind of like it. Except for the fish heads (eyes and all) and all the bones. Too much work. But seriously, as a new fish eater, I have braved that storm and ventured into new waters. Minus the canned sardines or anchovies. YUCK!!! Too fishy!

Another food no no, is Tripe. I think I dislike it just as much as canned fish. It smells bad and the texture is just to weird for me. I finally had to break down and tell my host fam, I don't like it. It didn't help that we had it every other day, if not every day.

One persons Trash is another kids treasure!!!! I give my trash to my 7 year old cousin and my 3 year old niece to throw away and they carry the bag away and come back to my room with articles of my trash like they are toys.

Did you know that a styrofoam take away container can double as not only a storage devise for more trash but also as a car? A broken mouse is totally a car! Pill packaging is the best to lick! Yup, iron supplement residue must be the new sugar! My trash is pure gold in their eyes. Last week my host cousin had my razor in his mouth, I wanted to vomit. (It was the handle end in his mouth and the cover was over the blade still, thank God!)

Sweat!

Good lord, I feel like Richard Simmons in a work out video at Krispy Kreme. I am constantly sweating. The only nice thing about sweating so much is that when you move the sweaty area is cool in the breeze. :) I have never sweat this much in my entire life! Sorry if that grosses you out, but I'm just keeping it real. It is VERY hot and can get pretty humid. I am excited for the rain but also dreading it. It will flood and will continue to be HOT! That means that it will be miserably humid, good thing I have curly hair! :)

That is all for my randomness... for now. I'll post some more later.

As for me, site is great. I live with a family that has 7 kids, one uncle, one cousin, one niece, and a meme and tate (mom and dad). They are great people and are very close reminding me of my family back home. School is still boring but that is just because the learners are currently preparing for their end of year exams. My OVC is great. I think I am really going to love it here. :)

Well peeps, it's official! I am no longer a trainee but a Namibia Peace Corps Volunteer. We had our swearing in ceremony last Thursday and it was definitely bittersweet. I am so excited to be done with PST but am so sad to have to say goodbye some really great friends (for a few weeks, that is).

I said goodbye to my Okahandja host family and will miss them dearly. I have grown really attached to my host sisters and the neighbor girls. I spent my last week painting their toenails and playing cards with them. I love them!

This is KJudy... my married couple friends KJ and Rudi. They are amazing and I am so sad they do not live closer to me. The wonderful woman in the Damara dress is Kyla, she is amazing as well and will be greatly missed until reconnect in December.

On our trip up to Owamboland our caravan was lucky enough to drive through part of Etosha National Game Park. Etosha is one of the best safari parks in Africa. These are actual giraffe and zebra at a water hole, I saw them and instantly started singing the circle of life from the lion king. So cool. We saw tons of giraffe, zebra, deer looking creatures (big and small, sorry I don't remember the names), and we also saw two hyenas! AWESOME!

I had more pictures to post but my internet was being crappy so I am now in our local PC office finishing this blog.

Site is amazing. My new host family is awesome. They definitely make me feel at home! :) School is pretty boring so far but will hopefully pick up. All the learners are preparing for their end of year exams so there isn't really too much to do.

Namibia is amazing and I really love it here. The bugs, not so much. They are huge and don't just die when you smash the crap out of them, they come back to life about three more times before calling it quits. I however am a champ when it comes to flicking them off of me or not freaking out when they are on me. Though the crunch they make when they collide with the bottom of my shoe still grosses me out pretty bad, I squeal and run away after I smash them, then come back for clean up duty. Rainy season is on it way. We have a had a few showers but mostly its just clouds and HEAT!!! I am constantly sweating here. Oh well, I live in Namibia. :)

I love you all and will update again soon! Peace out, girls scout!

This is usually how people respond to things here. I reply with "it is!" and it throws them off, I find it fun. :)

So, life is about to change again... crazy fast! I'm pretty nervous and excited, mostly excited.

Training ends pretty much tomorrow. We swear in as official Peace Corps Volunteers on Thursday, woot woot!

As for this last week of training:

We had my final presentation for our small business partners last week and it went really well. I had such a great time working with the most loving women who happened to be my counterparts at my SME (Small/Medium Enterprise).

Yesterday was my last LPI (language proficiency exam) and today I received my results! I passed!!!! You must score an Intermediate Low to pass and not have to retake the LPI in a few months. I received.... drum roll please.... Intermediate Mid!!!! I feel like I have learned quite a bit in just 6 short weeks. I love the feeling of being able to piece together a sentence in Oshindonga, it feels great! My only downfall is my OshiSpangLish. Yup, its totally a language! It's Onshindonga mixed with Spanish and English. It's quite funny when you are making a sentence and you throw in a tango or a por favor. Hahahaha. My language trainer just looks at me funny and then I explain to her what I said in Spanish.

Today (Tuesday the 18th) we will tie up all our lose ends of PST before our swearing in ceremony tomorrow (Thursday)! I can't believe how fast the past two months have flown by. I can't believe I have lived here that long and that short as well. It feels like we have lived in Namibia for 6 months or really forever, I have definitely adapted to PST life. (PST-Pre Service Training.)

I move to site on Friday. :) I am a bag of mixed emotions. I am sad to leave my current host family but am excited to meed my next. I will be living with my next host family for the next two years of my service. I have never met these people and hope I make a great connection with them. I am hoping for either parental figures or people that I will feel at home living with. Pray all goes well.

Here are few of the highlights from my PST

10- My host sisters and I frantically swatting at the monstrous insects flying around my room... HILARIOUS!

9- Kukuri Center where we all stayed for our first week in Namibia. It feels like we were there for so long and that is was light years away, but in reality it was only a week or so and it was only 7 weeks ago.

8- Dr Shit (please excuse my language, but he was awesome) He ran the Habitat Resource Center in Windhoek and was hilarious and innovative. He recycles everything and has the most beautiful facility.

7- My awesome SEED group. I don't think any PST group has laughed as much as we have. There are only seven of us, but we are an awesome group of seven! We have the best APCD and Tech Trainer, I am sooooo lucky!

6- AMAZING friends. I cannot believe we have only known each other for 8 weeks! It seriously feels like we have known each other forever. We have endured some crazy hilarious moments as well as some crazy weird ones together, the great news is that we have made it!

5- Host family. It is really a great way to learn about a new culture quickly. I have only lived with my host family for about 6 weeks and I have grown to love them.

4- Skype dates with the people I love back home. So blessed to have an awesome family and awesome technology to not only talk to them for free but also to see their faces.

3- A good head on my shoulders. I am so happy to say that I am pretty strong and confident in who I am. That is a great feeling. :) Of course I am still a work in progress but I think I am moving in a pretty great direction.

2- My site visit. I get to work with two amazing supervisors at site and am going to be blessed with all the people and children I get to work with for the next two years. I am so excited.

1- Realizing that this is exactly where I am meant to be at this point in my life! Incredible feeling! I have made it!

I am so close to finishing my training, I can see the finish line. I can happily say, I have survived 8 weeks of emotionally draining and intense training. I have made so many memories and learned so much.

Next step, living as an actual Peace Corps Volunteer!

Cheers to Group 34!

We truly are the exception, not the rule.

Is it? It is.

Only 9 days more until I am no longer a Peace Corps Trainee and am sworn in as a Peace Corps Volunteer! Woohoo! Where has the past seven weeks gone? Next week I will move up to Ondangwa and that will be my permanent home for the next two years. Crazy exciting!

Namibia is beautiful, and amazing, and hilarious.

Being a larger white woman makes me the cream of the crop here in Namibia. That is, once people realize I am an American and not an Afrikaner. People here believe that being an American woman who is not skinny is very rich and very beautiful, so I receive quite a bit of attention from the men around town. I usually just ignore them or laugh. I have no doubt that if they were to confront me I will show them my serious side. :) For most people that know me or at least have met me, might find this a little hard to believe. I am a very easy going person who smiles a lot, and giggles a whole lot more. But rest assured, I can be mean and hold my ground when I need to. A local kid, who I have named "Bossy-pants" learned this the hard way. Lets just say he will no longer be threatening my fellow female volunteers to play soccer with him. :)

Housing at site is still a mystery to me. I had a house arranged for me but due to some circumstances I had to be assigned to an alternate home in the same community. Once I know more about that home, I will definitely post pictures and details.

As for mail anyone is wanting to send my way I have a new address to start sending stuff to. :)

Sister Melissa Nicks

c/o Oonte OVC Org

P.O. Box 1022

Ondangwa, Namibia

Africa

Its good to put 'sister' and bible verses on packages because it is less likely to be tampered with. :) Also, on most care packages you are asked to list what is in the box, please don't list valuables... maybe put that you are sending books and magazines or stuff that people wouldn't want to steal as much as valuables. :) The bible verses will be nice to read as well.

This past Sunday I went to church with one of my friends and it was a great sermon. There were maybe about 20 of us in the church and the pastor was nice enough to do the sermon in both Afrikaans and English so we would understand his message. It made me miss Sandals church a ton! My host family here at training doesn't really go to church so I have to find people to take me with them to their churches. The good news is that my supervisors at my permanent site are Christians and are very excited to take me to church every Sunday with them. :) I am excited for the next few weeks but nervous as well.

This next week and a half will be pretty stressful. I have classroom observations and co-teaching for entrepreneurship, a group presentation for our SEED small business partners, and my final LPI (language proficiency exam) on Monday. It's all drawing to a close. It's very bittersweet. I will miss all of my new American friends but look forward to my adventure starting. :)

So this past week I traveled from Okahandja to Ondangwa for my site visit. I traveled for about 8 hours for a pretty eventful ride. Here is how our day went:

8am- left in a two combi caravan headed north

845am- pulled off the road to check the tires because the car is driving weird

10ish am- stopped in Otjiverongo at the SuperSpar (what up?!?!)

1230pm-ish- dropped some peeps off in Tsumeb, went to pay an outstanding petrol bill from our supervisors trip down south, had to get petrol at a different station, our card did not work so we had to wait over an hour for them to try again, meanwhile we went into another Spar grocery store to do some prime time shopping for our host families

130pm-ish- finally get to leave Tsumeb

145pm- get pulled over for speeding and I swear they took our driver in their cop car but they didn't

3pm- cross over the red line and officially enter the north

4pm-ish- finally arrive in Ondangwa my new home :)

The beginning of our journey.

Renee, one of my fellow trainees, while we were stuck at the petrol station #2. She was excited about our adventures along with me. Renee will live about 15 mins from me at site. (15 minute drive, that is)

This was the view from my site visit house. It's very sandy up in Ondangwa. The school I will be working at is in the background.

This is from our journey back to training. It was about a 6 hour combi ride with Rick and Renee. Rick is a fellow SEED volunteer and lives in Ondangwa as well. These two will most likely be the ones that I will see the most. Great peeps. :)

As for my new name. I am working for an OVC (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) organization called Oonte. My supervisor meme Shiimi is one of the most loving warm people I have met in Namibia so far and I love her. She is a Christian and has been praying for my arrival and what I should be called. She chose my new Oshiwambo name to be Tangeeni, meaning praise God for his many blessings. It is pronounced Tan-gay-nee. It is so cute, all the children at the OVC call me by this name and are such amazing children despite their hardships. Many are orphaned due to AIDS/HIV. It is heartbreaking but Meme Shiimi is sharing the love of God with them and they are truly beautiful.

I am doing really well and have made many lasting friendships. Thank you for your many prayers and support. I love you all! :)

So I know it has been a while but I still have limited internet access. Please forgive me. :)

Let's start with this last Saturday. It was our cultural cooking day and was quite an event. All of our host families gathered to make us PCT's traditional meals from the different regions of Namibia. There were worms, stomach, smiley's, dried fish, porridge, chickens feet, and many other interesting foods. I, Melissa Nicks, ate a worm!!! It is eaten a lot in O-land (where I will be located after swearing in) and I was told I had to try at least one. Let's just say it may have tasted like chicken but my mind and body were dry heaving... yuck! I ate a piece of a smiley (Goats head), it was pretty tasty. I wasn't brave enough to try the cow's stomach, the texture freaked me out just looking at it. My host mom and sisters came and it was pretty fun. Definitely an experience.

That same afternoon my host sister, host cousin, and few straggler trainees and I took the combi home, It was a very tiring day so we were all ready to go home and take naps and then hang out a little later. Well, everyone got out of the combi in front of me and as I was getting out I hit my hand on something, little did I know, that something was the fire extinguisher!!! The car began to fill with pink smoke/powder! I was trying to turn it off but couldn't breath so I had to back away. Erwin our driver jumped out but forgot to put the car in park so it began to roll back. As he jumped back in to put the car in park one of my friends, Jessica (the smart one), pulled the fire extinguisher out of the combi so she can try to stop it from blowing out fire retardant everywhere. Meanwhile, my little sister and cousin are laughing hysterically, I am across the street apologizing for my clumsiness and giggling a little, and everyone starts laughing hysterically. Long story short, I am not the first person to set off a fire extinguisher in the combi, someone set one off while the doors were closed and everyone had to shower off because they were completely covered in the dust. We all had a great laugh and I think the fire extinguisher needed to be replaced and re-placed somewhere out of my reach.

Site Announcements!!!!

So Yesterday was the day most of us PCT's have been patiently awaiting. I knew I was going to O-Land but didn't know where or if there would be another volunteer near me. Well, we went outside to a string outline of Namibia and papers scattered throughout the outline with schools and locations on them being held down by rocks. I was the first name called by Linda my amazing APCD. Everyone was watching me as I moved over to... Ondongwa! I will be in a major town up north with Rick, one of my fellow SEED volunteers! I am so excited! I have PCV's all around me and am in a great place. I will be working at a junior secondary school training the teachers on how to teach entrepreneurship and will also be working with an organization that works with Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC). This job is perfect for me and I have I mentioned how stinkin excited I am? I am on cloud nine.

We meet out supervisors this week and this weekend we travel to a week long site visit. I can't wait. I will live in a three bedroom house on a family compound. So exciting! I'll have to post pictures when I get back from site.

As for now, I am running out of internet time. I send all my love to you all back home.

BTW- Feel free to send me some love in the form of snail mail! :)

melissa.nicks' photostream on Flickr.Here are some photos from my time in Namibia so far. I am extremely bad at actually taking photos... I will work on taking more. :)

That means "Hi, how are you?"

I am doing pretty well here in Namibia.

We are already on week 3 of training! I feel like I have been in country for 3 months rather then three weeks!

I moved in with my host family and have inherited two little sisters- 4 and 10. I also have inherited two dogs and four brand new puppies! :) They were born Sunday.

The food is still pretty good minus the canned fish/sardines. Blech!

I started language training and will be learning Oshindonga. I love it so far. I have an awesome language trainer named Meme Vicky.

The people in my group are pretty awesome.

I have actually had an awesome amount of contact with back home. I ended up buying an internet stick to use the internet on my computer but it gets kind of pricey. I am currently taking advantage of a promotion called happy hour. Its were you pay $10 and you have free internet access from 12am-5am. It's hard on me but perfect for back at home. I got to talk to all of my siblings and my parents within the past few days. My love tank is overflowing!

Sorry for how jumbled this post may seem (It's 2:10am!) :) I am pretty sleepy but wanted to update my blog. I am working on uploading pictures online so people can look at my adventures. I'll let you all know when I get it all up there. As for now you can check out the photos on my facebook that people in my group are posting.

It's crazy how I went from having no readers to having quite a few checking me out. :)

This is a special shout out to Steven V's dad! Hi!!! :) Hope you are doing well. Steven is awesome, you should be proud of him. :)

Ok. I am using too many smiley emoticons. I'm going to take that as a sign that I need sleep.

Hope everyone is doing amazing! I know we are here in Namibia. :)

Peace Out!

PS. I would LOVE to receive some snail mail aka letters

I am officially through one week of PST (pre service training)! :)

I found out I will be learning Oshindonga and am pretty excited about it! I had my first lesson today and the vowels and stuff are very similar to spanish.

We learned how to wash laundry and bathe out of a bucket last Saturday, we even had a real demonstration of both!

We also took part in the Herero commemoration celebration. It was pretty awesome! We walked in a parade type walk to the grave sites of the different chiefs and also got to meet a bunch of different people. :)

I'd post pictures but unfortunately I am currently on one bar of internet and the pics wont post. Once I go to visit my permanent site in a few weeks I will determine how the internet access will be and whether or not I will buy an internet stick. Until then, my internet access will be sporadic.

We move in with our host families tomorrow! Wish me luck!

Miss and love you all!

Hi from Namibia

We have arrived! Weds morning at 5am a group of 38 of us Peace Corps Trainees stepped off of our plane and set foot on our new home, Namibia. It was quite cold, a chilling 30 F (-1 C). The first few days went by pretty slowly but the trainers and staff are pretty great.

The other SEED volunteers and I (7 total) finally found out Friday what our job will entail. Our job will be split into two parts, the first half will either be working at schools training the Namibia teachers on how to teach entrepreneurship or we will be working with an NGO helping people start businesses. The second half of our jobs will be supporting our local communities and assisting them with start businesses and also training them on how to make their businesses succeed and make a profit. Our SEED APCD (Associate Program Country Director) and technical trainer are pretty amazing and they have created an exciting training course for us. I am so stoked! J

Life here is pretty cool, different, but cool.

Today we learned how to wash our clothes in a water basin and also how to bathe out of a water basin as well. It was pretty awesome.

We move in with our host families this next week. It will be different but I am excited to integrate into the community more.

As for the internet situation, I am currently sitting in a local café owned by Americans using their wifi for a small fee. It is really nice but on my small stipend I don’t know how often I will be able to log on to the internet. I do enjoy your messages on Facebook and on here so PLEASE do continue to send me love! J (I might end up coming here more often, they are playing Christian music that I really like.)

Until next time, peace out! J

Here I go! I am currently sitting in the JFK airport waiting for my flight to Frankfurt.

This weekend was a roller coaster of emotions. Saturday I left my parents from LAX and cried my eyes out. It was very difficult leaving them and realizing I wouldn't be seeing any of my family or friends for over two years. Once I arrived in Philadelphia I was still emotional and then I met a few of the others in my group and felt better. I think knowing that the others in my group are experiencing the same emotions makes me feel like I am ok and am in the right place. I felt nervous int he airport but now I am still not that nervous.

Staging yesterday went really well. We got a brief overview of what is expected of us, the Peace Corps expectations, and what to expect. Our group has 38 volunteers and only 6 of us are business volunteers, the rest are all education. We all get along great and I am excited to be starting this journey with them all.

Thank you for all of your prayers and good wishes, I really appreciate them. I really feel blessed to have so many people supporting me. I love you all! :)

So I have been asked by most people I have talked to what my address will be while in training. Today I finally received that information.

Keep in mind I will not be in Namibia until after August 24th.

You can send packages to

Melissa Nicks

P.O. Box 6862

Windhoek 9000

Namibia

If sending something through an expedited service such as FedEx or DHL send it to the street address of the PC office.

19 Nachtigal Street

Ausspannplatz

Windhoek

Namibia

This address will only be for training. Once I am sworn in on October 20th and move to my new site I will put up a new address. Also remember that all mail can take anywhere from 2-4 weeks to make it to its destination. (That includes mail sent to you here at home too!)

With that said, feel free to send me all that your heart desires! :)

You might be asking yourself, What does all that written up above mean? I would tell you if I knew! Hahahahaha. Today I received a TON of information preparing me for staging and for the most exciting two years to come! That included a letter with these questions or phrases written on it welcoming me and congratulating me. I'll let you know when I find out what it really means, it probably says something in a language found in Namibia but I have no clue. :)

So over the past month or so I have been wrapping up work. Tomorrow (August 5th) is officially my last day at Odyssey Hospice. I am so excited but sad at the same time. I love the people I work with but know I have an incredible journey ahead of me.

I am also preparing to move out of my apartment and back home. Another bittersweet experience. I have LOVED living with my roommate Carrie and will be sad to split apart but am happy for her and the direction God is taking her at this time in her life.

I am selling my car (Sandie). :( She is the best car a girl can have (or guy!) :)

So now I am working on packing up my place, moving, finishing training my replacement at work, and packing up my life for the next two+ years.

I also had my going away party last weekend. WOW! I am pretty sure I had over 100 people there at one point, it was amazing! My love tank is so full!

Thank you to the worlds best family ever! My Family is simply the best and puts on the best parties. They support me so much and love me for being me. Have I mentioned out amazing they are? They are!

I leave in two weeks! I'll post at least once more before then. As for now, so long! :)

So I have officially sent in my letter of resignation and my last day of work will be August 5th, woohoo!

-That's only 9 work days away! :)

I also received my staging information last week and booked my flight to Philadelphia, PA! I leave the 20th and we for Namibia on the 22nd!

-That's only 26 days until staging and 28 days until the flight to Namibia!

I cannot believe how fast time is flying by. I have so much to do but feel like I cant really do all that much until after I am done with work.

I will be selling my car Sandie. She's in great shape and needs a loving home. She is a 2005 Honda Civic LX, a sandy gold color (hence the name), and has about 90,000 miles under her hood.

This is Sandie with her friend Skelly. Skelly was visiting last October and she and Sandie totally hit it off. :)She is currently for sale.

On another note, I am currently preparing/consolidating all of my stuff in my apartment to move back home into the attic. My stuff, not me! :) I'll probably share a room with either my sister or my niece.

I also have my going away party coming up and am so excited to see some of my favorite people there!

Since I began preparing to leave I have been trying to do as much fun stuff as possible. I think I have been pretty successful!- Went white water rafting for a week on the American River. AWESOME!- Did a mud run. Crazy tough and dirty, but so fun!- Spent the day at the beach with my second family, the Rich's.- Went to the Orange County Fair. Ate fried food and bought some super funky but cute shades. Lets just say they will be going to Namibia and people will be jealous of how cute they are. hahaha.

I've probably done more but those are my highlights for right now.

Hope you are having a blessed week! :)

So I have done a fair amount of looking around and haven't found anybody going to Namibia (except for one :)) in the blogging world?

Anyone out there going to Namibia in August with me? Or is it just the two of us?

Just thought I'd throw it out there. :)

Ahhhh... My invite has finally come and I have officially accepted.

It arrived last Monday while I was up in Nor Cal White Water Rafting for the week. My roommate called me Monday night and told me it had arrived, I was bummed but super stoked it finally arrived!

Friday night when I arrived home my parents, brother, and sister were all there to watch the opening of the Big Blue Packet, otherwise known as the INVITE!

We were right about Namibia! I will be working as a business advisor in the SEED (Small Enterprise & Entrepreneurship Development) program. The program began in 2010 so it is a fairly new program. :)

Mom was so excited she made me pose for a photo.

I leave for Washington DC on August 18th and will travel to Namibia on August 21st.

For those who know me we will be having a going away party! Email or Facebook me for details, I'd love to see you before I leave!

I received a voicemail from my PO this morning saying she found a position departing in mid/late August and would like me to please call her back sometime today. I was so excited that I called her right away and was bummed to get her voicemail... all SIX times I tried :). I finally received another call from her and we discussed the opening. It is a small business development position in Africa with a focus on a new program educating entrepreneurs and their teachers. I will also be responsible for finding secondary work creating activities for youth educating them on AIDS and HIV awareness! She asked if I would be interested leaving earlier and I told her "HECK YES!" maybe not in those exact words but I am sure my excitement said it all! :) We ended the call with her saying my invite is going in the mail today! My mom did her research and thinks I will be going to Namibia! I can't believe I will be leaving in less then two months to live in Africa.

Well, since my last post the following has happened:

My blood count is at a normal level over 12... the infusions worked!I cleared medical a few days after I received the results of my blood test.I was contacted by my placement officer that day asking for an updated resume of my work and volunteer history as she does the final review of my application!I sent in my updated resume the following week I got an email a few days later asking for a good time to schedule a phone call with my Placement Officer to go over the final review of my app. I had a 15 minute convo with my PO yesterday and was told she is looking into a program in Africa departing for early October doing small business development! She said I should be hearing from her in 1-2 weeks with a possible invite! This has all happened in two months. It took 6.5 months for my medical review to be completed! Crazy!

Here is my LONG timeline of this process... It looks like it will most likely be 1 year from start to invite!

7/1/10- Application Submitted.

8/10- Contacted by a recruiter. Got fingerprints done... FBI card status!

9/13/10- Interview over the phone with my recruiter. Nominated at the end of the interview for Sub-Saharan Africa doing Business Advising departing late May/early June 2011.

9/14/10- Toolkit states I am officially a Peace Corps Nominee and my Medical/Dental Kit are both in the mail. Legal clearance was completed.

10/10- Had various dental and doctors appointments completing my kit.

11/17/10- Received a notification that my Medical/Dental kits were received. Also received my dental kit back saying dental work needs to be completed and new x-rays.

1/11- Got three crowns, one fillings, and x-rays. Thank God for dental insurance and for blessing me with the funds to get it all done at once. Sent info off the the Dental office and was cleared at the end of January.

2/17/11- I got impatient as I realized I hadn't heard anything from the medical office and my nominated trip was approaching and emailed them asking if they had started reviewing my file.

2/18/11- Received work that "my file was just assigned a nurse and I will be hearing from her in 4-6 weeks".

3/26/11- Received a letter from my MO asking for a follow up blood test and a new PAP smear. My blood count was low and my PAP was over one year old.

4/11- Found out my blood count dropped even more. Was placed on iron supplements. Faxed a letter and repeat blood test back to my MO. Received another letter stating the information was incomplete, my doctor did not specify when I began the iron supplements and they want another blood test.

5/11- Realized my iron isn't raising fast enough. Underwent Iron Infusions. Completely free thanks to Kaiser and my awesome insurance through my work!

5/18/11- Received an actual phone call from my MO asking how I was doing and if I had finished my infusions. I told her yes and I was going to get my blood drawn the next day to see results. Had a blood test and my iron was over a 12 (which is good!) and there was a LOT of iron floating around in me.

5/26/11- Received notification via my toolkit that the MO made a decision and I will be receiving a letter in the mail stating what they decided. Received an email from the Placement Assistant about 1 hour later asking for an updated resume so she can pass along my my application to my placement officer. Guess that means I passed medical!!! Woohoo! I also received an email from my placement officer stating I am not going to make my original nomination. (I already knew that)

6/1/11- Sent my resume over. It was hard fitting all my work and volunteer experience onto two pages.

6/7/11- Received an email from the PO assistant saying she is passing along my application to the PO and I will hear from her in 4-6 weeks.

6/9/11- Received an email from my PO asking what time would be best for her to call me and to discuss the final review of my app. AHHHHH!!!!! I told her Monday or Tuesday at noon during my lunch break.

6/14/11- Had a 15 minute conversation with my PO and was told that she is looking at a trip departing in early October for Africa doing Small Business Development! She also said I'll here from her in 1-2 weeks about this trip. Possible Invite? I hope so!

I'll write another post soon! Hopefully with a picture of me with my BBP! BBP- Big Blue Packet, i.e. invitation!

As I began the application process of joining the Peace Corps I began reading other applicants and volunteers blogs and their journey to getting to their assignment. Well, I came to find that there is one common term applicants have coined called RAS, otherwise known as Restless Applicant Syndrome. This is what we call getting antsy and mostly occurs during the waiting period. When I read about RAS I often thought to myself, "I am so lucky that I don't have RAS, I know the Lord will place me where he needs me in his timing". I thought I was being really patient until recently. I was nominated for departure in Late May/early June and was also asked to be a bridesmaid in one of my best friends weddings this coming March. Peace Corps Volunteers are not allowed to leave the country or travel in the first 6-7 months. With my nomination I didn't have a doubt that I would be able to come back for her wedding but as time ticks away I am still not cleared medically. I am kind of freaking out that I might have to miss her wedding!

I submitted my medical kit in October and they barely began reviewing it in early February. Three months later? Really??? I was still feeling good then because I thought they would speed through it and get me cleared, I had plenty of time to make my original nomination. Wrong! I feel like more and more things are coming up prolonging my departure date even more.

First they needed a followup blood test and a new PAP because mine was over a year old. Done. Wrong again. My blood test came back saying I was more anemic then my original test. My doctor decided to put me on Iron pills boosting my iron levels. I submitted a letter from my doctor about the iron count and also my new medical info they requested. Yes, I am good, I sent it all in and maybe they will clear me now. Wrong again!!! They sent me another letter stating my paperwork was incomplete, my doctor and I forgot to state when I began taking the iron pills and now they wanted another blood test showing my iron count from after the pills.

Okay, I do that! My iron count has not gone up very much at all. I have been taking horse pills for iron... they are a lot of iron! Today my doctor decided I need to have iron infusions so my iron will be at an ok level... I am currently at an 11.6, the standard in 12-16. I start in a week and a half and it will be a three week process.

I'm hoping that after this process and my iron count will be good, they will clear me medically and I will not be WRONG again about my medical kit being complete. I pray they have a spot for me departing before mid August. It has always been a dream of mine to serve other people in a foreign land and to share my education with them.

I know the Peace Corps is right for me and pray for patience. It will all work out in the long run! :)

So I have some good news!

Over the past two weeks I have spent a lot of pretty pennies to finally finish all of my dental work so I can complete my dental file for the Peace Corps. That included getting new xrays, three crowns, and one filling. I finally finished last Tuesday night and sent off my revised dental packet Weds, and was cleared for dental on Sat! Woohoo!

I hadn't heard anything from the PC office in months, so it feels great to know that I am not forgotten! Now the wait is on the Medical office to clear my medical file. I want to do this so bad and I have been doing really well at the whole patience thing, but it gets scary not hearing a peep for months at a time.

A few weeks ago 20/20 did an expose on women in the Peace Corps that have been raped and "forgotten" by the Peace Corps and also on a volunteer that was murdered in country. I have gotten quite a few people coming up to me telling me they are extremely worried about me going to Africa with the Peace Corps. My response to them is that it could happen here in our own backyards. I am choosing to join the Peace Corps knowing the risk of possible danger. Since I do not have TV (cable) I didn't get to watch the special, but I did read a lot of articles about it and understand why people are so scared, I kind of freaked out the weekend it showed and was questioning myself if it was worth it.

I came back to the realization that I am in God's hands! I cant 100% prevent myself from being a victim. I can be overly cautious, which I believe myself to already be, and I can make smart decisions keeping myself out of threatening or sketchy situations.

I also feel that the more I integrate and build solid relationships with my community and host family the more I will become like a real family member and they will protect me as they would one of their own flesh and blood.

One of the things that I most look forward to is building those relationships with my future village and helping to share my knowledge and education and learn from them as well.

I feel like right now all I can do it hand it all over to God because everything is done according to His plan and in His timing. All I can do is have faith and patience. Which thankfully I do have. :)

So, I was so excited and relieved to have ALL of my paperwork sent to the Peace Corps and for them to review and tell me how perfect I am for the Peace Corps and for them to send me a letter telling me to start preparing, that I will leave on _____ for _____. Well, the smooth process I was praying for hasn't quite gone the way I'd hoped.

A few weeks ago I was at a night out/meeting with Favor of God's co founder Martin Onen when my phone wouldn't stop ringing. My mom was calling me and that is weird for MY phone to ring so much (I am not a fan of talking on the phone). After hitting ignore a few times, I quietly stepped outside because I figured it must be an emergency for my mom to call me repeatedly. Well, come to find out I received a thick manila envelope from the Peace Corps and mom thought it was BIG news, like placement/departure date BIG. I gave her permission to open it and explained to her that I won't be receiving that BIG letter until I have spoken with my placement officer, which I have yet to hear anything from. What was in the envelope was my dental records sent back to me and a request for new xrays and a letter from my dentist verifying that I have had the three teeth needing crowns actually completed. I thought, no big deal... WRONG!

I went to my dentists office the next day and they informed me that the dental work they are needing completed records on have not been done yet and the xrays cannot be completed until my insurance renews in January or else I have to pay out of pocket. No bueno! Well, after about an hour of talking and figuring out what needed to be done and the only logical route to take would be to wait until January and pray that my spot is still available when they finally receive and review my files. I also left pretty broken hearted because I was informed that my crowns will be about $1200.

Pretty much in tears when I arrived home my amazing roommate came to my rescue and helped me figure out how I can budget this month so taht I will have the money in my account by my dentist appt in early January. She is so amazing! We had a great roommate date and she ensured me that God will get me through this, she was just so comforting and encouraging. I do have the best roommate ever!!!

Thankfully I had finished my Christmas shopping by this time and as long as I remain responsible I can do it!

As for placement, I have been blog stalking and I have a feeling I am going to Ghana but from reading all these other peoples blogs they tend to be wrong. :)

All I know is that wherever I end up will be where God has planned for me to go. I pray for flexibility, a clear and open mind, and for God to truly move me in this whole process.

On an upside, I have signed up to take a membership course with my church where I will deepen my knowledge and faith in Christ. I am so excited! Plus, I am taking it with my best friend Abby! We tend to have a lot of fun in classes together and sometimes don't get in trouble.

So it definitely has been a while, a couple years really. I thought I'd try and get into the habit of blogging since I think that might be my only way of communicating to the most of my family and friends here at home for a few years.

Why, you may ask... well, to make a long story short, my life will hopefully be changing a LOT for the next three or so years.

I started blogging in, I believe, 2008 because my sisters had the cutest blogs and I loved reading about their lives (even though I see them all the time). I liked seeing the comments from our extended family and that they were able to get a glimpse into all of our lives here in Southern California. Well here is a quick glimpse into the past two years of my life.

2008-

June- Graduated from college

June- Moved back home

August- Went to Honduras with Sandals ChurchOctober- Got a seasonal job at Kohl's as a POS and rocked the position

December- Got another job at Odyssey Health Care as the receptionist and rock that position even more!

2009-

Nothing really new

Still working at Odyssey as the receptionist

Applied for a few positions within the company but the time wasn't right

August- Moved out of my parents house into a cute little apt with a friend from church-Applied to go to Uganda with church and got invited to join the team! Woohoo

2010-

March- Went to Gulu, Uganda with Sandals Church to visit Favor of God Ministries

June- Decided I want to join the Peace Corps

July- Submitted my application

August- Volunteered as a camp counselor for Pipeline (elementary Sunday school) for a week

September- Interviewed by phone and nominated to serve in the Peace Corps in Sub-Saharan Africa doing Business Advising departing late May/early June of 2011!November- I turned 25!

-Completed and sent in my medical and dental evaluations

-just received a request for new dental x-rays to be completed and am waiting patiently while the rest of my paperwork is being reviewed.

Surprise! I'm joining the Peace Corps!I will hopefully be moving to Africa and this will be where you can hear about my adventures!

Please pray for me in the coming months that everything goes smoothly, that I have patience in waiting and in my current job, that God prepares my heart for the incredible adventure of life I am about to embark on!

Love you all!

So this is a picture from Christmas break with my CSUSB housing friends and old roommates at our Christmas extravaganza. I got Mama Mia and was so excited! This is how excited I am right now about having a real JOB!

Well friends, here is how it all started. After 6 months of the post graduation job search I finally found a few. It all started out with dad nagging me to stop into Khol's in early October and apply just as a seasonal employee. I went in one afternoon and the lady at customer service told me that I am a lucky girl because she was going to add me to the interviews for the next day. I went to the interview and they hired me, they were pretty puzzled as to why a college grad wants to work at Kohl's. Hey, it's a paycheck and better than nothing that a lot of others in the U.S. have right now with this economy. I was hired as a cashier and did pretty well for myself throughout the holidays. So well, I was the top employee for the week before Christmas for getting people to sign up for Kohl's charge cards... that's a pretty big deal in the Kohl's world! I was also told they wanted to keep me on year round. It was at the beginning of December that Alvord School District contacted me to be a substitute teacher. I went through the hiring process and then the holidays hit and it was put on hold. Well it so happened that during the holidays I was contacted by my friend Ed who I went to Honduras with and he told me about a job with his company Odyssey Health care that would be full time with benefits!

Wooo Whooo!

I went in for my interview Monday the 22nd they loved me and offered me the job right on the spot. I didn't accept right away because I didn't want to leave the subbing job high and dry especially when I forked over quite a bit of money to run the background checks, certs... etc.

After talking to my life coach, aka my brother Miles, we decided that it was a great opportunity and I accepted the job!

I am now a working woman!

I work Monday thru Friday 8-5pm as a receptionist for an amazing health care/hospice program. YAY! Ps. As for right now I am still at Kohl's... you can catch me at the register most weekends.

Okay so since I am home so often I receive 98% of the phone calls on the house phone asking for Mr or Mrs Nicks. Most of which are telemarketers either trying to get us to do a survey or to buys something. I really don't like to talk to them so I have come up with the greatest technique on tricking them so I don't have to talk to them myself. When they ask how old I am I just tell them I am not 18 yet, that I am not an adult or am still in high school

Tonight I did just that and I had the funniest response ever.

It was an older lady, I am guessing from the south and she had an attitude, not the bad kind but she just had that fun edge when she spoke.

Well tonight our conversation went like this:

Lady: Hi may I please speak with Mrs. Nicks?

Me: Sorry but she is not available right now

Lady: Oh, well what about Harold?

Me: He's not either

Lady: Well then, who are you?

Me: Their daughter

Lady: Oh well then I will talk to you, You sound like an adult

Me: Sorry mam but I am not, I'm only 17 (I try not to giggle)

Lady: What? You sound so old, You sound like a grown woman

Me: Nope, sorry! (I am beginning to giggle because its so funny!)

Lady: Okay then, well let me tell you Honey, don't you ever leave your mommy and daddy, stay as long as you can, stay forever! And DON'T have kids!

Me: (I continued to laugh)

Lady: You have a great night sweetie!

Me: Thanks you too!

Hahahaha... I probably do sound my age but I think it is so fun to pretend, especially when you don't wanna answer questions on a survey or you don't want to buy something. This lady was a lot of fun and didn't bug me like the other boring ones do. It just made me smile, then giggle, and then laugh so loud my brother came in and wanted to know what was up. I filled him in and told him he can borrow my trick any day... though he isn't an adult, so maybe not this one just yet.

This past week I made a deal with my parents that I would make dinner every night if they went grocery shopping. When I say grocery shopping I mean not frozen or processed foods.

They did the shopping from the list that I made them and started my amazing cooking yesterday!

Thanks to Kraft kitchens website it makes it a lot easier coming up with ideas.

http://kraftkitchen.com

Yesterday started with a Borrito/Taco Salad bar. I was watching Hannaha and Noah for the night so I got an extra helper in the kitchen. Hannah is a great helper! She and I got the food ready and we all enjoyed it buffet style!

Tonight was more of a treat for my parents and little brother. While I was in Honduras I had the privilege of helping the kitchen staff at our team house make Chicken Empanadas. I talked to one of the girls in the kitchen and after translating as best I could back into English I brought home the recipe. I DID IT! I made Chicken Empanadas tonight and they ALL loved it!

This picture is the leftovers. Although it took me about 3 hours to make them, it was worth it!Ian told me I should have my own cooking show but cook to music... So we were practicing while singing Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson. It was pretty funny especially since Ian is 15 1/2 and I am 22 1/2 and we were pretending! By the way, how do you like my title for the show? Music, Muchies, and Melissa!Tomorrow night I have small group and we all have plans until late so when I told dad I didn't know if I would cook he got all sad, it was pretty funny. I told him there will be food ready for them. I think I might make a cheesy chicken and broccoli bake thanks to Kraftkitchen.com!

So yes it has been a while since I have really posted but it has also been a while since I have visited other peoples blogs as well. How am I supposed to live up to my title of Melissa Jean the Blogging Queen if I dont blog every now and then?This is mostly due to the fact that I am desperately searching for a job. I have my bachelors degree in Business, Marketing and have applied to about 30 (maybe more) jobs this past 4 months! I have come to the realization that because the economy is so bad and is getting worse every now and then that those amazing companies out there cannot hire an amazing catch like myself!(I'm an optimist, can you tell?)I have come across a few prospective jobs and am constantly praying that one of them will be the one for me. As for right now my schedule consists of picking up Ian from school, cooking dinner, and visiting Nanny J once a week.Nanny J deserves a post all to herself, but just to quickly fill you in, she is 95, falls asleep every 10 minutes or so, and she is my Great Grandmother on my moms side! With that said, I will try to not neglect my blog anymore, though it is hard to sometimes come up with ideas when I am actually at my computer. Now I would like to give a little shout-out to my 6 readers "HOLLA!"This goes to Aunt Florence, Grandpa, Dad, Michelle, Heidi, and sometimes Liz.(I was told that Aunt Florence and Grandpa check my sisters and my blogs) Yea for 6 readers! :) If there are anymore of you out there, tell me! I like to see who's spying on me :)

Thanks to my oldest sister Heidi I was awarded the oops award and sadly forgot to post about it!

Its been a while but what can I say other than, "OOPS!"

Thanks sister!

The Oops award was created and to be given to bloggers who inspire others with their humor and their talents, also for contributing to the blogging world in whatever medium. When you receive this award it is considered a “special honor”.

Once you have received this award, you are to pass it on to others.”

My 5 choices for this month are:....

1. All about me... and a little about you.

2. Bloggy Blog

3. The Hootie Blog

4. Michelle Kelley... yea you dont have a blog right now but i think you should! :)

5. Sarah Schwieger

I enjoy your blog and had a laugh while I was there.

The rules for passing this honor on:

1) Pick 5 blogs that you would like to award this honor to.

2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3) Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

4) Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of “Oops” blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

August 12- I left for Honduras. I went and spent 9 days at Orphanage Emmanuel and loved every minute. The weather was not what we expected. We expected it to be hot and humid, but when we got to Tegucigalpa, Honduras it was overcast, mid 70's probably 30% humid with a cool breeze. It was just like Hawaii, very green but without the ocean outside your window. We drove about 2 hours and arrived at this place.

This kids all spoke spanish but some of them knew a little bit of english making it a little easier to communicate. I was really nervous around the kids the first few days becasue I couldnt communicate. I finally got over that fear and just loved on the kids and had an incredible time.

We had a fair for this kids and got to have water fights with them. I got to sew skirts out of jeans, helped out at the preschool, and played with the toddlers. I even found one that I wanted to bring home with me, his name was oscar Alejandro, don't tell any of the other kids but he was definately my favorite. The kids have such amazing faith, we had two guys in our group that would walk around with their guitars playing songs we sing at church and before we knew it our theme song for the trip was Hosanna, I dont think I can ever listen to that song again without thinking about these kids. They are so blessed and have it so good at Emmanuel I found it hard to feel sorry for them, they are so happy and have the lord in their hearts, they are living the life.

Another one of my favorites would have to be this CUTE baby, his name is Robbie and is one of the staff couples babies. His dad is from Florida and came to Emmanuel during college where he met his wife, who was one of the older orphan girls going to school in Tegucigalpa to become a nurse. They fell in love and now both live and work full time at the orphanage.

The trip was amazing, I want to go back someday, but for now I must live in the US get a job and pay off my student loans. And maybe learn some more spanish so that I can communicate with the people at Emmanuel.

On Tuesday afternoon a group of 20 plus myself leave for Honduras. In Honduras we will be working at an orphanage called Orphanage Emmanuel. The pictures above are actual pictures of the children there. I am so excited to love on these kids, I wish I could stay longer but will only be there for 8 day. With this post I ask that you pray for not only me and my team mates but also these children (there are over 400) and also for thier 10 staff members, yup they only have 10 for all 400+ children!

Okay so most everyone that watches tv has seen an infomercial with this man... or a similar commercial where he yells at you to buy his product. I was watching tv yesterday and was falling asleep and was startled when he began yelling at me to use his product. Of course some people probably just think that he is overly excited, but i am sorry but him yelling at me doesnt make me want to use that product or buy it. Well, maybe a little, especially when he pours the wine and stains the carpet and the clothes and they come out clean. I think we have had that stuff before and it didnt work for me. Oh well, good for Mr. OxiClean man, maybe he does sell the product by yelling at others, who knows!

Okay, so I am currently in the process of looking for a job, preferably doing marketing within the creative side of advertising and design.

Well i have been sending out my resume for a few weeks now and recently got a good hit. It was with a marketing promotions company in San Diego, they called me under one company name and left their number on my voicemail, then I received an email from another name with the same number, I ended up calling and they said they were different divisions under the same management. I arranged an interview for the following day and went. I drove for 1.5 hours for a 10 minute interview. They told me that if they decided they liked me (which I was pretty sure I had the job in the bag because I am pretty awesome! :) ) and wanted me to come back they would call me that evening and I would have to come back the following Monday for a day long interview... they literally told me to be there at 9:30 am and that I would be on my feet most of the day and also that I would not be done until that evening... Shady!

Today I told a lot of my friends at church and asked them to pray for me, i was getting pretty excited, especially because the lady interviewing me told me they are looking to hire one entry level position and promote them to an executive position within one year, ONE YEAR people, that sold me!

Well, tonight I spent a lot of time in prayer and when I got home I decided I needed to print out a copy of my resume just in case I may need it, well my parents computer sucks and word would not open, so I went on Google and was trying to get it to work or to just waste time while waiting for it to come up.

While on Google.com i decided to look up this company, come to find out they have a few scam.com reports written about them!

The way these people described the place and how their interviews went... I knew it was the truth! I experienced what they wrote and knew that if I went to the second interview it would be a total waste and SCAM!

My mom and I spent some time looking them up and came to find that it looks like it is a sales job... not the cool kind, but the kind where people stop you in a parking lot asking you to buy some "cool" thing out of their duffel bag. Sorry guys but I am not trying to go to camp or anything and I am not in a gang and trying to clean my life up, so I am not about to be the one to stop and ask you to buy some of my crap!

My mom told me not to call it a scam but honestly, that's exactly what I would call it! And to think, I was considering leaving my family and friends and moving down there!

All I have to say after all of this is, Thank the Lord for Google.com!

A few good things I did get out of this experience are:

Always Google any company I would possibly work for or even consider relocation

I got my first interview out of the way and also I get to turn down my first position (even though they didn't offer me the job yet, You know they were going to, how could they not?)

Finally I have reaffirmed my faith in the lord and knowing that he has a plan for me and that job was not a long term part of it! He works in mysterious ways and tonight he worked through Google.com! Gotta love him! :)

PS... I am still unemployed! If you know of any jobs (preferably within my field of interest) please feel free to tell me about them!

So for those who do not already know, I have been chosen to be a part of a team to go to Honduras and help out and love on 400 amazing kids at orphanage Emmanuel. I will be going with Sandals Church but the road to get there is through a lot of fundraising. There are 22 of us going and we each have to individually raise $1700!

I am almost half way there and to get us even closer we have a few events coming up first off we have a chick- fil-a car wash night this coming Thursday (the 26th)

at Corona Crossings off the 15 fwy. If you are in the area come help us out and meet the team and amybe make a donation. :)

Our next event in this coming Friday night (the 27th) and is a Texas Hold 'Em Tournament. The buy in is $20 but it goes to a great cause and if you win, you get an awesome bracelet like the pros get on the world tournament but better!!!

I promised myself that I would not start blogging or reveal this blog to my sisters and to the rest of the world until I finished school.

Well, guess what? I finished my last final about 3 hours ago and am now a college graduate, I will be walking this Sunday! Yay!

I will be receiving my BA in Business Marketing and can't wait!

Now my next step is finding a job that I will love, I am talking to someone right now about a possible job opportunity that would be amazing! Pray that it happens.

So my dream job is to create amazing advertisements that are memorable.

Absolut vodka has done just that. I was sitting in my apartment watching TV when an Absolut Vodka commercial came on and you didn't know it was a commercial for vodka until the space people turned the moon into a giant disco ball. It was pretty awesome!

Just thought I would share that randomness with you!

Hello and welcome to my life!

My name is Melissa Jean and I have decided to become the blogging queen! (Hence the name.)

Both of my sisters (Heidi and Liz) are avid bloggers and I feel like the time has come for me to join this blogging world!!!

My life is going to be changing in the next few months. I dont think it will necessarily be good or bad but it will be change.

I am graduating from college and am going to be forced to join the working world!

(Sad day, i know!!!)

With these changes I have decided that it would be kind of fun to blog about them and so here I am!

I love to read about others, I feel that it is sort of like people watching which sounds kind of scary and crazy, but hey, you all put it out there! I just like to look at it. :)

See you around!