I have been a bit under the weather lately and as we drove back from Tennessee it got worse and I ended up sleeping 14 hours in a row. Gosh, that’s what happens when it’s so cold outside and you get home and it’s so hot… Anyhow, it won’t hinder me from having a good time here! Nope!

So, on Monday we drove back from Shocco Springs and spent the day with the worship band in Atlanta. That was fun. But I didn’t get to see much of the city actually, we were in a Mall and I got to see all the shops I know from FRIENDS and other tv shows, so that was fun.
On Tuesday the captain said we could go get our nails done. Ok guys, I don’t care what ya say! I have never had a real manicure so I was really excited about that. We got to this place and the people were very nice and pampered me as if I were a VIP, which I enjoyed (who wouldn’t ;)). We didn’t do much that day, but it was nice too!
On Wednesday and Thursday I helped out at the Corps, there was a lot to do and I love it. They asked me to create a flyer for the Valentine’s day Party so I got to be creative and it was fun to do that. On Wednesday night we had Home League and a dentist came to speak about Teeth Whitening – that was interesting! He even handed out Whitening Stripes, which didn’t have any kind of consequence on my teeth, since one has to use them for two weeks at least, but it was fun anyways.
On Thursday I went to the Worship Band practice and we sang “You are my all in all” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zC617kE1maU)
I LOVE this song. It’s so nice! We also sang songs in Spanish for the Spanish Service. I think if I were to stay here for a longer period, I’d be able to speak Spanish again; I really had a great time.
On our way back, we went to Wal Mart to get a stuffed-animal puppy for Captain Bobby. He would really love to have one, a real one. So we chose one and when we got home, we put it by the door, rang the bell and hid behind the bushes. His face was just hilarious when he opened the door. He looked around and then saw the puppy and his eyes just grew bigger and bigger. Haha. The little dog did look scary in the dark though…
On Friday I left with a group from the Corps to go to Gatlinburg, Tennessee for the Young Adults Retreat. We drove for about 5 hours and then got to a place that looked like mini Las Vegas to me (never been there, I know, but still). Blinking lights, Christmas decoration and souvenir shops everywhere, no place for the eyes to rest and outlet malls that make you want to be a millionaire in order to buy all the nice clothes you see.
The hotel was really nice; I had a gigantic room for myself -with a coffee machine, bath tub and… a fireplace.
I didn’t go skiing because I was too scared I’d hurt my knee, and I am glad I didn’t. The guys came back and almost couldn’t sit down! I think their butt was more on the snow than their feet… but they had a great time. While they were on the “mountain” I went to an outlet mall with Debbie and Rachel and almost went bonkers; the prices are incredible! Reebok, Nike, Tommy Hilfiger… they all have stuff for less than 10 dollars. I ended up buying a Tommy Hilfiger Shirt (turquoise, obviously) for 4 dollars. I am very proud of my purchase!
In the evening we all went to the Fort Fun centre and played Laser Tag. It was a LOT of fun, so much we played that one twice! The motion ride made us all scream like crazy and some of us felt sick on their way out (nope, not me!). Black Light mini golf was something I had never played before too, we all had weird faces down there: white teeth and eyeballs and black shadows on the cheeks. Spooky, that’s for sure. The music playing was the little Mermaid’s Soundtrack at first, which was hilarious, and later the Beatles and other songs from the 60’s.
We left on Sunday at about 11 o’clock and for half of the trip we played karaoke: Britney Spears, Walt Disney, Backstreet boys, Celine Dion, Avalon, N*Sync… it was almost as if we all were 16 again. Elliott (the one who was driving) must have thought we were crazy, we laughed so hard, it was just great!

It’s Monday now, and I have no idea what the plans for week are, but I am really enjoying my time here. Three more weeks and I am in Rome, and then back to Bern for University, my last Semester!

I feel blessed to be here, the Lord really gave me a great present in allowing me to come here, the people are spoiling me as if it were the most normal thing to do, the places I go to are great and I am thankful. Really thankful. Sometimes it feels as if we are going through hard times only (I know I did, during this past 4years and most of all during 2007), I have learned that the Lord is there, carrying us and never giving us more than we can handle. And at the end of the road there is light, there is hope and there is a place where you can come and rest.