Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Louisiana Culture

It was the Christmas before Brock and I got married. I was meeting my future in-laws for the first time. The whole family was gathered around talking amongst themselves. The ladies standing around me were talking about the dishes they had cooked for the occasion. What I said next made everyone stop in their tracks. I made the mistake of saying, "I don't know how to cook!"

At that moment, everyone stopped talking and looked at me. Now, it was awkwardly quiet and all eyes were on me. A nervous giggle escaped me as I timidly said, "I plan on learning, though."

What I did not know then but know now is that cooking and eating is a big part of their culture in Louisiana where Brock's family lives. They have some great food! My mother-in-law made me a recipe book for our wedding. I still use that book. It's all warn with big food stains and such. I found out that I am not much of a chef, but I can follow a recipe!

We are at Brock's parents house right now. We were just talking about that memory last night after our feast of a dinner. We always eat really well in Louisiana!

Monday, March 29, 2010

9 Shows in 4 Days

9am. That's what time I woke up this morning. I fell asleep at 10pm last night. That's how tired I was. We worked hard this past weekend in Shepherd, but it was worth it! We did 6 school assemblies, a big 2 hour show Friday night, a community picnic Saturday, and a Sunday morning service down the road.

Friday night, 140 people decided to start following Jesus. At the picnic, some leaders from my parents' church were able to lead 3 people to Christ. Sunday morning, 12 people gave their lives to the Lord.

My dad put everything together and has been working on this for months. He worked really hard and did a great job. Plus, the community in Shepherd is so good. Everyone gets in there and works until it's done. What a weekend in Texas!

Friday, March 26, 2010

Pride and a Bald Eye

Have you ever had a time when the Lord began working on your pride? That's the one that I always tell Him can wait until later. He decided that later is now (for the last few months that is). One thing after another has happened to me in order to humble me. I cannot share most of it, because it's too personal. I will share what happened yesterday.

I was putting on my cutest outfit and applying my make-up just right. Not only were we going to perform at a high school (they are the toughest to impress..."too cool for school" you know?), but it happened to be Shepherd High School. It is the same high school that I graduated from. Therefore, I was taking extra time and care in doing my make-up that I realized we were running late. So, I hurriedly took my eyelash curler (guys, it's a tool that makes you eyelashes look longer) and began curling up my eyelashes like I do everyday. As I went to curl my left eyelashes, I had some sort of arm spasm and yanked every single lash out of my upper left eye. I was baffled at how I did that! (Actually, I've done it a couple of times before back in college, but not in years.)

I didn't even have time to adjust my make-up to make it look less bald on one eye. I ran out the door feeling very humiliated. I wondered if people would think that I was one of those stressed out people that pull each lash out. Who knows? People that came up to me were either very gracious or did not notice, but man what a morning! This sounds a little more comical now (I know that you are laughing at me), but it worked in humbling me. You can rest assured that I was the only one in the building with no eyelashes. It was my own dang fault! Does anyone know how long they will take to grow back?

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Full Week in Texas

Pray for our week. We are doing 3 school assemblies Thursday and Friday. Then, Friday night we're doing a big show. Saturday, we are performing at a community wide picnic. Sunday morning we are performing at a church. Please pray that everything goes smoothly and that we have strength. We are going to need it!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Lindsey's Crazy Scanvenger Hunt Birthday

We went on a scavenger hunt around Nashville for Lindsey's birthday. Here are some pictures from it...
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Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Fall Creek Falls

We've done some cool things since Barbara has been here. One of the coolest is going to Fall Creek Falls in Tennessee.
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Sunday, March 21, 2010

Freedom

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PhotobucketThis is the new sequence called "Freedom." Do you like?

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Which 3 Are the Best?

I took these pictures of crosses at the church in Santo Domingo. Tell me in the comments which 3 I should put in my sequence picture.
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Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Pics from Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

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Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Ports on our Cruise

First stop was Honduras, but it was very rainy. Our snorkeling tour was canceled, so we decided to explore the city ourselves. We were very hesitant because of the Mexico incident. However, we ended up getting the best taxi driver. He was a really nice guy with a wife and son. We felt comfortable with Chris.
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PhotobucketWe ended up eating at this restaurant on the water. I felt like I was in a movie for some reason. The rain was pounding on the porch roof and the sea water was coming up through the cracks in the wood of the floor. It felt so different. It was as if we were out in the storm yet sheltered.
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PhotobucketWe decided to get massages from these ladies who said they had a private place on the beach. It was cheap and we did not have anything else to do since it was raining, so we agreed. First of all, their private place was to the side of a building. It began raining, so I spent half of my massage helping her move the lawn chairs (that was their massaging table) under this porch at a dive shop. Right next to us, while we were trying to relax, we could hear the diving instructions. It was the craziest massage I've ever received. We are still laughing about it!

Next, which was Brock's birthday, we went to Belize. On the dock, we met this guy whom shares Brock's birthday.Photobucket
PhotobucketWe went snorkeling in Belize. It was some of the best snorkeling I've ever done, because the reef was really shallow and beautiful!
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PhotobucketBrock thought this was funny that the kid was fishing right by the "No Fishing" sign.
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Our next stop was Costa Maya, Mexico where we had lunch on the beach.Photobucket
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PhotobucketThen, we visited the Mayan ruins. It was interesting.
PhotobucketWe saw a monkey out in the wild there!