All About Carrie

Klassic Day

Today was a very fun day. Got to sleep in a bit then we went out to Ocean Terminal where we spent the day. Allison has been visiting me all week and leaves tomorrow. She is one of the Alabama girls, and is studying in Germany this term. Ocean Terminal is a big mall on the outskirts of town. We saw Miss Congeniality 2. I liked it! We also made Build a Bears, or sheep. I think I am going to start collecting sheep. They are so cute, and good reminders that we are sheep and need to be guided. After all that we went to The Hard Rock Cafe. It was such a great day. Who cares if we haven't seen the sun in over a week?? We ended up doing all of the touristy things this week as well as enjoying the fact that is was raining and stayed in some.

posted by Carrie @ 4:24 PM 0 comments

FINALLY, THE BLONDE JOKE TO END ALL BLONDE JOKES..

A blonde calls her boyfriend and says, "Please come over here and help me.
I have a killer jigsaw puzzle, and I can't figure out how to get it started."
Her boyfriend asks, "What is it supposed to be when it's finished?"
The blonde says, "According to the picture on the box, it's a tiger."
Her boyfriend decides to go over and help with the puzzle.
She lets him in and shows him where she has the puzzle spread all over the table.
He studies the pieces for a moment, then looks at the box, then turns to her and says, "First of all, no matter what we do, we're not going to be able to assemble these pieces into anything resembling a tiger."
He takes her hand and says, "Second, I want you to relax. Let's have a nice cup of tea, and then....." he sighed, "
...let's put all these Frosted Flakes back in the box".

posted by Carrie @ 11:27 PM 1 comments

Jubilee

It is so refreshing to know that I have some time out. This term didn't seem like too much, but as I was walking home from an Action Group and realized the term was over I felt relieved. I am praying that the time I get off and to spend with friends will be refreshing. That the conference or "retreat" will be just that.

We could also use some prayers as leaders make decisions about next year’s team. For discernment and direction. I have applied to be here again, and am waiting to hear back. Waiting, a good lesson to learn from God.

Jogging- I have a lot have relationship with it. I hate it, but want to learn to love it. This week I have only gotten out two times. There is still time to make my goal of 3 times a week.

Eating- been doing alright.

Other than that- I had a great conversation with a couple of girls while doing a survey. They are interested in reading A Case for Christ. We will get that to them when they are back from break.

I gave a book review to our staff team this morning on Changes that Heal, By Henry Cloud. It went well. I made a script for someone and then interviewd me like we were on a talk show. I used a good quote from Hallmark "We all have emotional baggage, atleast mine is cute and matching." I thought that was so funny, and true.

posted by Carrie @ 6:22 PM 2 comments

Illustrations of the past and future

Here is a bit of what is happening now, a glimpse of the next few weeks and a bit about this past weekend.

Today I was bad and didn't want to go for a jog. I made myself and it only lasted for 15 minutes. I had a lot to do and just wasn't feeling it. Hopefully I will be better tomorrow.

I have been eating pretty well. Need to learn not to snack, and if I am going to it has to be nutritional.

This is the last week before we get almost three weeks off. It didn't originally start off as three, but since we aren't having a Spring Break project come we have a little more time off! It will be really nice. Here is what is happening during that time:
Allison is coming on Friday!! I am so excited. She is one of the girls from Alabama that I went out and helped start the Tau chapter of ADX last Jan. That was such a fun weekend. I have actually only met her that one weekend, but we have stayed in contact and God has a way of putting people in our lives that touch us so deeply that time doesn't matter. She is studying in Germany and really looking forward to Easter services in English. She will be here for almost a week.

After Allison leaves we are headed to an All Staff Retreat for three days. This should be a great time with Agape staff. When I get back to Edinburgh on Sunday April 3rd Jen and Kristin will be waiting for me!! We have a fun trip planned to Dublin, Ireland!! I can't wait. I haven't seen either of them in forever and they are two of my bestest friends. We are going to have a blast.

Jen and Kristin will also be here for just under a week. I think after spending that much time being a tourist and enjoying time with good friends I will need a few days off. During that last week I will have a meeting or two, but it shouldn't be too bad.

That is what is happening soon, here is a bit of what happened on Saturday.

Saturday
Today was a glorious day. I stayed up way too late last night so I slept in until 11. I then got ready for my day. I got a text from a friend asking if I wanted to go to the cinema, I am always up for that. Went to run a couple errands and ran into that friend. We enjoyed the day together.
It was so nice outside that I didn't need a sweater or a jacket. We pretended we were tourists for a little while and went to the tourist area to shop. I got what I needed. We weren't sure what to do, so I invited her over for lunch and a movie. After the movie she left. I decided I should go for a jog and I did!! Everybody was out in the meadows. It was great to people watch while I was jogging. I ran into some friends and chatted a while and then finished my jog. Then had to get ready for the movie.
We saw Coach Carter. Very good. Movies come out like a month later than they do there.
I tried on a pair of jeans that I hadn't been able to zip and they fit!! Woo hoo!! I am going to keep this up. I have been eating really well all week. I haven't had any sweets all during Lent. I am lookin into joining the Uni gym so I can take Kickboxing!


Share your illustrations with me, would love to hear about your life :)

posted by Carrie @ 4:22 PM 4 comments

Hip Hop Happenings

A lot has been happening lately.

I got a text from a student saying, "I have God's fire back, want to meet up?" That is so awesome to hear and really makes my job worth it. We had been trying to meet up, but things just kept coming up. We are meeting tomorrow and I plan to challenge her some.

I have decided to start exercising regularly. This is something I have wanted to do for a long time, but it has been all talk. My plan is to do some sort of exercise every day. I want to go jogging 3-4 times a week and in between do something for at least 10 minutes a day.

What is really hard is that I do a lot of walking to get around. I have figured on Mondays I walk five miles just to get to the places I need to go. That isn't enough, I need to get off my rear and kick it in gear!! You can ask me how I am doing, that would be helpful.

I have also decided to eat better. I am keeping track of everything I eat and snacking less. That means less carbs, more veg and fruit. I do eat well, but snack too much.

Today I really didn't want to go on a jog, but I knew I needed to. I started out and got the bringht idea of power waling to the News Steps and running those. It is about a 15 minute walk to them and then.........wow, those are steps. The first time I saw them I gasped. I don't know if you have ever seen a picture of the castle, but it is on a big hill. These steps get you up that hill. I am proud of myself, I ran down them and made it most of the way jogging up them. I am going to work this in every so often and try to improve, maybe I will be able to do them 2 or more times!!

What else????? I have really been wanting to challenge the people I meet up with. I also need to be more bold in general. I am a nice person, and there is nothing wrong with that, but I also need to know when to put my foot down and be the boss. This is somewhere I need to grow in my leadership skills.

Oh yeah, it is almost 6 pm outside and there is still light and it isn't freezing!! I went out for my jog in capris and a long sleeve shirt!! I can feel spring coming on and that means really long days!! yah!

Ok, that is enough for now. Ta!!

posted by Carrie @ 9:45 AM 3 comments

Goold Ole Carrieness

It is really windy outside tonight.
It is causing my windows to shake
And the curtains to move with the
window shut. That makes it really
cold in here.

I am not wearing socks and my feet
are telling me I should be.

I love my feet. You might think that is
weird, but I have this really bazaar obsession
with MY feet. I love it when my toes
are painted and look pretty.
Pink is a great color on toes.

GOOD news…………….
MY support is back at 100%!!
On Tuesday night I was completely
Determined to be done. I started calling
And was not going to stop until I was done.
That is exactly what I did.

It was approximately 5am when I was done.
I was so tired and excited all at the same time.
God really is amazing. I know He wants me
Here doing His work.

posted by Carrie @ 12:18 PM 3 comments

Full Support!!

That is what I am saving the F entry to be on my Blog (you may have noticed I have started naming them as the alphabet goes)

Today I did a lot of number crunching, and am still not sure what I need to raise. It is somewhere around $673 a month for the next five months. That seems like a lot, and is. The reason things are so bad is that three is about $520 a month that is either coming in very inconsistently or not at all. I have talked to a few people who have said they were going to either send in what they had pledged and make up for the back months, or just start sending in there monthly amount. That adds in another $560 in one-time donations. There is another $500 in one-time donations out there that has been pledged, but not received. This all basically means that if I were to get the money that has been pledged I would only need to raise about $200.

This can be done. I have to call about 30 people and reach them. They also have to be willing and able to send in what they have pledge. Please join me in praying that I can reach them, or others will come forward with other donations.

Thank you to all of you who already support me, you mean so much to me. Your prayers are felt way over here. I can't wait until I see how God makes this all work. Until then I have to do my part and that means staying up all night and hopefully sleeping during the day.

Blessings to all of you. xoxo

posted by Carrie @ 1:32 PM 3 comments

Eager to be at 100%

I am officially working on support full time until I reach 100%. Due to many things my support has been pretty bad and this step needs to be taken.

It is really hard for me to do this. It means not meeting up with people, not going out and sharing. I also have to change my schedule back to the states, staying up making phone calls. Not easy to do with you live with five others.

Please keep me in your prayers. I am pretty frustrated right now.

posted by Carrie @ 5:01 PM 2 comments