1001 Spokanian Nights

Again, I am pictureless... but hello either way! I hope this finds you all well and ready for THANKSGIVING! I know, usually you don't need to prepare for a break, but holidays are the exception to the rule :) but it's worth it, because you get to spend time with the people you love. I can't wait to see my family! And if you haven't guessed, I'm home right now... smelly and tired and oh-so content! I think my parents are excited to smell my stench again :)

The last few weeks have been pretty fun-filled and action packed. Classes have been tuggin' along, getting ready for finals week in about three weeks. Oy... but I'm catching my revitalizing break now, even though I brought more homework and textbooks than clothes this time around. Also, the play I'm in is blocked, rehearsed and... well, over-rehearsed really... we open December 10, so fingers crossed that I make a good hooker! At least I have an alternative after I graduate if teaching doesn't work out :) juuuuuuust kidding! Also, choir is getting ready for its Christmas tour to the Westside. Funny news, my peers in the choir nominated me for choir office (I'm moving into the Choir White House next week...) so I actually am the choir's Social Coordinator for the year. I'm very excited, this means I get to plan social events for the choir during tour and throughout the year to build the community and whatnot (hmm... sounds awfully RA-miliar, right?!) and it starts with coordinating Secret Santa. So what did I do?! I dressed up as economy Santa for choir that day. By economy Santa, I mean I went to the dollar store, picked up some mop heads to fashion a beard and hair, a Santa hat and some glasses, and then I stuffed my belly with the clothes I changed out of. Ya know, the red shirt, white trim, black pants and brown/blue Nike's :) the choir thought it was pretty hysterical apparently, and I even wore my beard for a whole 20 minutes after I spoke in front of everyone! I started getting overheated at that point... that and the choir director couldn't stop giggling when he saw Santa singing hollily and jollily :)

Everything else is going great. I recovered from Feminight and my cold is slowly subsiding as my brain is slowly making an exodus out my nose... No big, it's not like I need it. And my Sudanese family are doing great; Sarah, the daughter, just turned 10 this past week. WOW! She's growing up so fast, and for the first time I saw her with her hair down. It was culturally appropriate for girls to have their hair back most of the time, so she was very excited at something so simple as wearing her hair down. And the baby is doing well :) It's funny, whenever these events happen with this family, they invade this one very VERY large Middle Eastern man (who wears tons of cologne and a nice suit at all times) who apparently is looking to wed. Always awkward, always fun to deal with. It's great having a 40-year-old man forced upon you! Don't worry, we always claim the "my boyfriend couldn't make it" and that usually solves the problem.

So Steph and I saw The Lion King on Sunday, and it was aMAzing! The music was beautiful, Mufasa's voice was b-e-a-Utiful, the set and costumes were beautiful... it was all beautiful! As a theatre techie, I was having a small panic attack from the glory that was their facilities. If you have the opportunity, please see it. Granted, it followed the movie exactly so was a little bit artistically stale, but it was TOTALLY worth sitting in the second to last row made in the theatre.

Quick prayer request: Coleson, the boy mentioned before, has been going through his chemo and is having a pretty hard time. He has a feeding tube, continually gets sick and is having MRI's in the next few days to see if the malignant tumor in his thigh will need radiation before it is surgically removed. He will already need radiation for the spots in his lungs, so we really hope he can have it just removed surgically. He also has been very sick with some sort of flu, so it's been a rougher few weeks for him than we hoped. If you could keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers, I'm sure they would appreciate it and feel your support :)

And finally, I have some pretty exciting news. For the past few years, the past few months especially, I have been feeling called to do mission work outside the country but didn't know when, where or how it would happen. Well, I know some may not believe in this, but I feel as though I got the call from God that answered those questions. So, this June I will be traveling to the Dominican Republic with the Foundation for Children in Need to work with orphans for a week! Everything has been wonderfully falling into place, and I really got a good feeling about this organization and this place, so I was officially accepted to the trip about a week and a half ago. Ever since I got the Call, I can't stop thinking about it. Every time I remember, I get very emotional. I can't wait to meet these kiddos and build relationships with them. Any prayers you could send my way as I prepare for this journey would be greatly appreciated!

Okay, I'm done blabbering my mouth for a while. I truly hope you all enjoy your Thanksgivings, spend it with those people you are most thankful to have in your life, and travel safe!

GOBBLE GOBBLE! (That's turkey-talk for "Love you!")
Chels