World Wonder

Yes...AYo is here for Christmas! Before we came to my city, we met up in Delhi and then trained down to Agra to see one of the world wonders, the Taj Mahal. We had a great time and took a ton of pictures. For more info on the Taj, click HERE.


As a "Non-Indian" we had to pay an outrageous price...about 25 times the price for Indians!


These are the little booties they make foreigners wear. Indians go barefoot.


Now, we are back in my city, Christmas-ing it up. Last night, we finished up stories with the neighbors and will be able to attend several Christmas parties over the next few days. I love this time of year, and I am so thankful AYo came to spend it with me!

The Jesse Tree

I promised I would do a post that included our story set for the Jesse Tree and pictures. I actually haven't taken that many photos so far, but I plan to as we continue. Please lift us and our neighbors up. We'll be finishing the stories on December 23.



The Stories (with Scripture reference):
1. Creation: Genesis 1-2
2. Fall of Man: Genesis 3
3. Noah & the flood: Genesis 6-9
4. Tower of Babel: Genesis 11
5. God's promise to Abraham: Genesis 12:1-7; 15:1-6
6. Joseph: Genesis 37-50
7. Moses & the Exodus: Exodus 2-40
8. David made King: 1 Samuel 16:1-3; 2 Samuel 5:4; 7:1-28
9. Isaiah- The Promise of the Savior: Isaiah 53
10. Promised Savior's Birth: 1:5-24; Matthew 1:18-25, Matthew 1-2; Luke 2:1-34, 39-40
12. Jesus' baptism: Luke 3:1-3; Matthew 3:7-9, 13-15
13. Assurance of salvation: John 10:14-39
14. Jesus heals a blind man: Luke 18:15-17; 31-42
15. Triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday story): Luke 19:28-44, 47-48
16. The arrest and trial of Jesus: Luke 22:39; 23:13-21; Matthew 26:36, 45-67; 27:1-2. 11-14, 24-26
17. Jesus' execution: Luke 23:32-56
18. Alive! (Resurrection story): Luke 24:1-7. 36-47; Matthew 28: 19-20; Acts 1:8-11

A neighbor putting the ornament on the tree...
Friends, listening to the story...
We do a mini discussion time at the end about what we learned and what we liked about the story.
Cute little neighbor.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

While Mama was visiting me over here in South Asia, we decorated for Christmas. So...I thought I'd give you a peek at our cute little flat while participating in this bloggy Tour of Homes:

The view of the living room all decked out. Here, stars in windows or on porches show others that you celebrate Christmas. Don't you just love our bright South Asian home?


Here is our cute little tree. Again, this year we borrowed the tree from a family that is currently out of town. Most of the ornaments are a beautiful papier mache that is famous in a particular part of my country. Others are made from scrapbooking papers or sent from home.


This is our stairway...with hand-me-down stockings and a felt garland that I made. The tutorial is HERE at Anna Maria Horner's Web site. It's absolutely adorable!


I made this wreath from an embroidery hoop and scraps of fabric leftover from a cute Christmas tote I made for Mama. The ornament in the middle was sent over by Reba's mom.


This miniature nativity set was given to me by friends before I left to come to South Asia. It has been very helpful in explaining what Christmas is all about to neighbors and friends.


Here is our table. The tablecloth and napkins were bought at a fabulous department store here, and the napkin rings are made of pretty ribbon. The green center cloth is a silk scarf, and the little trees are from my favorite stationary store.


Finally here is our Jesse Tree. It's actually a bangle bracelet tree that we've converted to serve as the Jesse Tree. The Jesse Tree is a unique way to celebrate Advent through stories. Creation until the Messiah. We've been telling the stories every night in December to neighbors and friends. We made the ornaments, and each represents the story for the night. If you haven't heard of the Jesse Tree, please click on the following links for good explanations and sample story sets. One, Two and Three


We didn't follow any of these story sets in the links above, but I will do a separate post with our story set and pictures from our nightly get-togethers with neighbors.

That does it for the tour! I hope you enjoyed our South Asian Christmas decor!

"She's too young to be your mother."

For the whole 9 days that Mama was here, our national friends could not get over how young she is and how much we "act like sisters or friends instead of mother and daughter." How proud I was to introduce my sweet mama to all my friends here! We had a quick but amazing 9 days, and I am so proud of her for tackling the 30 hour journey.

We missed Daddy and Blake and all the family, but we were glad to have a little bit of "girl time" at the same time. We had a great Thanksgiving and just an all-around good time. Here are some pics from the visit. Click to make the image larger, if you wish. (Some of the pics got cropped oddly in the mosaic, but just know Mama is there in all of them.)

Saturday Signs

Week 8: Which jams are good for health? Grape?

Advent Conspiracy

As December begins, consider this.



adventconspiracy.org

Thankfulness

I'm thankful for...

- coffee first thing in the morning (with yummy flavored creamer).
- being able to tell my neighbors and friends what Thanksgiving means.
- turkey on Thanksgiving...even if the head and feet were still attached when it was time to cook it!
- a mama who will get on a plane and travel for 30 hours to see me.
- being able to introduce new people to this city and culture (my mama...just to name one).
- a cyclone in the nearby ocean, making it feel a little like winter, despite the rain.
- a daddy and brother back home that I know misses us and wishes we were there.
- an extended family that is gathering to celebrate and praise God for all our blessings.
- the Body of Christ, my "forever family," that takes care of me, encourages me and helps me run this race with perseverance.
- friends and a roommate here that truly manifest the love of Christ.
- the Truth that shines in darkness.
- Hope for the nations.
- His joy being my strength.
- the fact that I have so many things to be thankful for.

Praise Him! He is good!

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Just FYI...

MY MAMA IS HERE!

Shall we gather at the river?

No, no Point of Grace/Ladies Ensemble jabs. I promise. Literally, we gathered at the river.

Several Saturdays ago, Reba and I went on a little field trip with a neighbor family and their good friends to a nearby river and camping ground. All in all there were about 10 adults (me and Reba excluded), 7 tweens and us...along with all the necessary goods for the day: picnic supplies, tents, balls and other games, etc.

The day started out bright and early at "8 a.m. maximum," but we ended up leaving around 9 in a rented van.



The two hour drive consisted of a little musical game that has no name. First, the kids sang a song. The letter/sound that they ended on had to be the beginning letter/sound that the adults started with. Of course, they were mostly Hindi/Kannada movie songs that we do not know, but I pride myself in the fact that I was able to help once with the letter G. Here's a video of the game with a little intro to the day.

The rest of the ride included more musical fun. 7 Indian tweens singing and dancing (in a moving van, mind you) to such songs such as "Barbie Girl" and "Smack That." One of the. funniest. things. I've. ever. seen. Here's a little video montage.

And here are a few more pics from the day:


After we ate lunch (and let the monkeys have our leftovers), we rested then packed up and headed home. It was a fun, memorable day!

Saturday Signs

Week 7: A fate for us all...



"If you overtake from left death will overtake you from right"

To overtake: to pass someone on the road while driving.

Since folks drive on the left side here, you must pass on the right. So, to pass on the left is not the best idea (however, it's done consistently).

Saturday Signs

Week 6: I kinda threw up in my mouth a little...




Not a sign, but definitely funny. I couldn't *sneakily* get a picture of the front of the shirt, but it definitely had the AU logo on there. So, here's to you, all my Auburn friends! See you on November 15. ;-)

Also, people here are masters at transporting anything and everything on their motorcycles.

My crazy brother...

is 19 today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I heart you.

Saturday Signs

Week 5: And it begins...



This week kicks off Diwali, the major festival here and includes a lot of noisy "crackers" ALL NIGHT LONG. This sign expresses my sentiments exactly. Photo courtesy of The Millers(they just had a new baby!).

"My Beloved"- Kari Jobe

You're My beloved
You're My bride
To sing over you is My delight
Come away with Me, My love

You're beautiful to Me
So beautiful to Me

Under My mercy
Come and wait
Till we are standing face to face
I see no stain on you
My child

You're beautiful to Me
So beautiful to Me

I sing over you My song of peace
Cast all your care down at My feet
Come and find your rest in Me

I'll breathe My life inside of you
I'll bear you up on eagle's wings
And hide you in the shadow of My strength
I'll take you to My quiet waters
I'll restore your soul
Come rest in Me and be made whole

You're My beloved
You're My bride
To sing over you is my delight
Come away with Me, My love

Fun Finds

Lately, I've been finding some great things on the web...fun tools and resources, etc. I thought I'd share a few.

1. Google Reader: I love reading my friends' blogs. And since I have a lot of friends around the world, I have a lot of blogs to read. Google reader helps you put them all in one place so that you aren't bookmarking 5 million blogs. It is a nifty little tool to read all your favorite blogs in one place, and it keeps track of the posts you have/have not read. So...each day you can go to your Google Reader and see new posts that have been made to your favorite blogs! Way fun.

2. Picnik: Picnik is a stinkin' cool free, online photo editor. At Picnik, you can edit your photos, adjust colors, add text and frames, etc. It's really fun if you're Photoshop illiterate. Oh, and did I mention that it's free? Here are some of my latest Picnik creations:





3. Free Fonts at kevinandamanda.com: How cool is this? Free, fun fonts...and you can make a font from your own handwriting (I've not done this yet). Here, you can download really fun, free fonts so that you're not stuck with Arial, Helvetica, Times New Roman or Lucida Handwriting! These fonts are really great to have handy, especially when you are trying to send out cute, creative updates every month.

4. I have been crafting it up lately, and this cool blog "One Pretty Thing" has a daily post chock full of DIY crafty fun. Check it out: One Pretty Thing

Saturday Signs

Week 4: Watch out for the black lung...




"Black Smoke Lungs Choke"

24

Monday I celebrated my 24th birthday. It was a fantastic day! I truly felt special and loved, even though it was hard to be so far away from home and family. Special people helped to make it a special day for me. Thanks, yall! I heart you!

First, I received a few birthday packages...
1. From Mama, Daddy, Blake, Grannie, Papa and Mema...sewing goods (yeah, I just learned) and scrapbook paper, among other things

2. From sweet Eliz...birthday cake mix, UGA cups, birthday decorations and cards, letters and pictures from Athens friends!

3. From Macedonia...cards, a cool birthday hat, a pretty candle, etc.

Then, on the day...I visited my friends and neighbors and gave them sweets (as is the tradition here. The birthday person gives the gifts, but my friends also gave me some goodies, too!). Here's a picture of me delivering sweets to one of my neighbors, a lady who enjoys arts and crafts more than I do.



Later, Rebecca blindfolded me and surprised me by taking me to one of our favorite restaurants (that we rarely get to visit). It's Vietnamese food in a beautiful setting. What a great roomie, teammate, sister and friend I have!


That evening, we had some ladies over for a crafting party. Some sewed, some did paper crafts, some knitted and crocheted. There was a lot of good fellowship and food, as I splurged on an expensive favorite here...deli sliced turkey with real cheddar cheese!

Reba made the cake and decorated it beautifully...


Then, I fed her the first bite. Again, this is a tradition here.


It was a great day, and I am so thankful to everyone for their emails, Facebook wishes, thought and prayers. Yall rock!!

Today's "My Utmost"

I read this today, and it really spoke to me and my life circumstances right now. It has been easy to be discouraged lately, but He brings so much encouragement to me often in ways that I do not expect. This was a blessing to read today, on my birthday and nearly a year since I left South Georgia.

From myutmost.org

October 13th.
	INDIVIDUAL DISCOURAGEMENT AND PERSONAL ENLARGEMENT
"Moses went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens." Exodus 2:11 Moses saw the oppression of his people and felt certain that he was the one to deliver them, and in the righteous indignation of his own spirit he started to right their wrongs. After the first strike for God and for the right, God allowed Moses to be driven into blank discouragement, He sent him into the desert to feed sheep for forty years. At the end of that time, God appeared and told Moses to go and bring forth His people, and Moses said - "Who am I, that I should go?" In the beginning Moses realized that he was the man to deliver the people, but he had to be trained and disciplined by God first. He was right in the individual aspect, but he was not the man for the work until he had learned communion with God. We may have the vision of God and a very clear understanding of what God wants, and we start to do the thing, then comes something equivalent to the forty years in the wilderness, as if God had ignored the whole thing, and when we are thoroughly discouraged God comes back and revives the call, and we get the quaver in and say - "Oh, who am I?" We have to learn the first great stride of God - "I AM THAT I AM hath sent thee." We have to learn that our individual effort for God is an impertinence; our individuality is to be rendered incandescent by a personal relationship to God (see Matthew 3:17). We fix on the individual aspect of things; we have the vision - "This is what God wants me to do;" but we have not got into God's stride. If you are going through a time of discouragement, there is a big personal enlargement ahead.

My favorite line..."We have to learn that our individual effort for God is an impertinence; our individuality is to be rendered incandescent by a personal relationship to God."

What a word!

Saturday Signs

Week 3: Slow poison...



This was inside of an auto. Apparently, he's had some issues with love.

Where have I been?

Well, here. But, I've been quite the lame face and slack on updating my blog. I promise I'll get back on it soon. Don't worry.

Saturday Signs

Week 2: Always providing "the good service"

This is the Passengers Charter for the public bus system that we are quite familiar with.



1. Helping the ladies handicapped and aged person in getting the seat reserved for them.
2. All employees should wear clean and neat uniform and name badges.
3. To behave with politely and friendly and to issue tickets and return with correct change if any.
4. To attend to the work in time and work sincerely to provide clean and good condition vehicle for operation with distination boards.
5. Shrill horns should not be used and not to send the vehicle which emits excess smoke.
6. In case of break-down alternate arrangement should be made with deligence and to get the vehicle, repaired in two hours.
7. To make firm determination in providing the good service.
8. To stop the vehicles at the fixed stops.
9. To behave in a way to create better image of the corporation.
10. In case of accident to give moral support to the injured and make arrangement for their treatment and also to inform the control points immediately.
11. Not to smoke and drink while on duty and to care for safe comfortable journey.
12. To make the passengers aware of their rights and duties according to citizen charter.
13. To treat passenger as the honourable partner.
14. To report the suggestions given by passengers to the higher ups.

"Here's Your Sign" Saturday

One of the funniest things about living here is all the signs...road signs, billboards, advertisements, etc. Either the English is humorously incorrect or the picture is wacky or it just makes no sense to the mother tongue English speaker. Sometimes, they are just plain funny. So...today starts the adventure of "Here's Your Sign" Saturdays.

Week One: Excuse You...
This is an issue here, and if you do it, it's considered a compliment to the cook. But, I guess they are starting to learn the truth behind the infamous burp.

It's my daddy's birthday!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!



I love you so much!

Good to Know...

Toothpaste is a product suitable for vegetarians.

Here, in my country, many people are vegetarian for religious reasons. Every food product is marked with one of the following:



Recently, I ran out of my beloved Crest Whitening with Scope toothpaste that I brought over from the States (I brought several...I love it that much). In my quest to find a good substitute I found some Colgate Whitening. And, much to my surprise...its vegetarian. In case you want to eat it, I guess.

Our Family's NEW DAWG

Today, my little brother starts college classes at my alma mater, The University of Georgia. Not to be all sentimental on you, but yesterday he was a cute little, curly-haired blond pre-schooler. Seriously, how come we grow up so fast?

So, today's post is a tribute to my little brother (a pretty great one, if I do say so myself)...the new Georgia Bulldog.





Thanks, Blake, for being such a good brother and friend. Don't forget to study a little in between football games, workouts at Ramsey and late-night dorm mischief. K? Oh, and please don't walk under the arches...just in case. ;-)

And, of course....GO DAWGS! Sic 'em!

Forget waxing...try threading!

A part of daily life here is, of course, beauty upkeep. ;-)

So, for you ladies (and some men with unruly eyebrows), here's a tip. Put away your tweezers! Never put hot wax on your face again! Try threading, or epilation.

Threading is an excellent way to maintain your eyebrows (and...gasp! upper lip hair) that is a little less painful and a little more efficient than our traditional American methods. Threading originated in India and is widely practiced in Asia and the Middle East. Basically, a cotton thread that is held in place by the stylist's teeth and two hands is rolled over misplaced hairs, removing the hair at the follicle. It is more efficient than plucking because you can remove more than one hair at a time and is definitely less painful and irritating (thought it can be) to the skin as waxing. Here, we can have both of our eyebrows waxed for the grand total of about 50 cents! Like waxing/plucking, it should be done every several weeks to maintain perfectly shaped eyebrows. The best part is the mini facial massage afterwards!

Here of some photos of us getting "threaded."

Git-r-done, Becca.

My turn

Everyone helps.