finally, a buttload of mexico pictures

i will separate these into days to make it easier to follow. this is only a few, but you should be able to get the picture.

SUNDAY:
this is how our trip started, with a flat tire. actually, we had just got pulled over by a cop about three minutes before, so this was the second incident.

MONDAY:
in order to do the cement for the third floor ceiling, we had to move all the "ingredients" to the roof of the second floor. so, the boys carried 80 lb. bags of cement up a wobbly ladder.
we bucketed up the rocks and sand. i stood on the scaffold all day- not the sturdiest of structures when you are constantly bending over and reaching up.
mom was part of the bucket brigade
this picture is out of order. as the boys were putting bags of cement on the roof, they accidentally broke one open dumping cement down my back so mom cleaned me off before my skin burned they mixed the cement on the second story and bucketed it up to the third

WEDNESDAY:
there are no pictures from tuesday because all that was involved was lots of vomit. those who weren't sick put a roof on a house for a member of the church. on wednesday, we gave gifts to the church staff, handed out hygiene packets, and took christmas to a state run orphanage in the city.

isaiah:

priscilla
pablito
hermenia and natan-- the three above are also her kids. i've known them since poncho and hermenia only had isaias. hermenia and poncho were told they could never have kids and now they have four. it is an amazing story of the grace of God. hermenia has definitely been given the gift of preaching.
on our way to hand out hygiene packets we got our second flat tire of the trip, but bob and poncho got it taken care of.
a mexican family showing off their beans, hygiene packet, and toys for the kids.
the garbage man
a mom and her six kids that we gave stuff to casey, cody, and ethan found a pet while they waited for the tire to be fixed. eventually the donkey followed them wherever they went.
the older kids at the children's home singing for us

the younger kids singing for us
opening presents
pinata time!
let the hording begin
mexican santa

priscilla in her dress for church
bob preaching, poncho translating
two of my most favorite people in the world-- pita and leah
okay, so this isn't mexico, but it just may be the greatest picture ever:


MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

i'm back...

pictures from mexico will come soon, i promise. i have 200 so i need to sort through them first. in the meantime, i'll give you a quick run down. this trip was definitely original. we had two flat tires (never before have we had a single flat). we took a stomach virus with us and due to close quarters and germ sharing 20 out of the 48 people had projectile vomitting (we've only had two people ever get sick before and it was very short lived). despite those last two points, the trip was good. we were able to put the third floor roof on the church, a roof on a church members house, pass out hygiene packets, and take christmas presents to a state run orphanage. we got back last night. i have bronchitis and an uri and mom has pneumonia. i'll post pics when i get some time and feel a little beter.

have we changed much?

my aunt eunice sent my dad a couple of pics of meg and me as little girls. i laughed out loud so i thought i'd share:

THEN:
NOW:
THEN:
NOW:

boy, we sure are ggoooodd lookin'!

note to self: december is the wrong time to swimsuit shop...

...or is it? the swimsuit on the left is obviously my old swimsuit. it cost me $40 and a month ago used to be dark purple and black. currently it is super stretchy and see-through. so, i went swimsuit shopping today. the one on the right is what i got. bad news: academy only had one suit like it (the rest were grandma suits and cost $50). good news: it was on sale for $19.88 but rang up at $1.88!!!! no that is not a typo, i just got a speedo swimsuit for under $2.

i put christmas lights on my balcony a couple weeks ago, but forgot to post a picture. now my neighbors below me have lights so it looks cooler (but it is raining so i'm not taking a picture).

we leave for mexico on sunday and i'm ssuuppeerr excited. pray that the trip goes well. the group of kids we are taking isn't the best. i will be sure to take tons of pictures. and, while you are praying, pray for me. i think i am applying for a summer internship with cooper ventures. cooper ventures is the business portion of the cooper clinic and specializes in wellness consulting and fitness management. and while it would be amazing, i'm sure it is hightly competitive.

so proud of myself

here is my report card for this semester:

THE AMERICAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM

A

STRATEGIC MGMT OF HLTHCARE ORG

A


INFORMATION TECH & MIS FUND

A

FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING

A


Cumulative through Spring 2008
4.000


also, i was very domestic yesterday. since it was mom's birthday i went home and cooked dinner for her and dad. i did homemade french onion soup and lasagna. random combination, i know, but i wanted to try my new soup recipe and mom wanted lasagna. and, since today is coach wood's birthday, i baked him an apple pie last night.

i don't know why i own a camera since i don't use it. i took it to the p.a. christmas party on tuesday but left it in my purse. i also took it home yesterday, but once again, it stayed in my purse.

happy birthday mommy!

HAPPY 55TH BIRTHDAY MOM, I LOVE YOU!!

bring on the discounts...

AHHHH!

this morning when i went to church i wanted to wear black heels. currently, my black heels are being held together by electrical tape that has to be replaced every time i wear them and the caps have come off of both heels so the screws clank every time i walk. they have been this way for a while. very ghetto. so, after church i decided that i was going to buy myself some new black heels, thus beginning a three and a half hour quest for the new black heels. my goal was to find something cute and trendy but not too expensive. i refuse to pay over $40 for a pair of high heels and think even that is ridiculous, but was willing to pay that much in order to something i wanted. i went everywhere. wal-mart. nothing. payless. ehhh. nothing thrilling. about fifty stores at the mall. i found some super cute ones, but they were $70 and $80. then, i went to target. finally, i found some shoes i liked that were within my price range. victory? no. of course they did not have my size. the customer service man sent me to another target across town and said they had one pair left in my size. guess what, he lied. that customer service man said no targets had them anymore. being completely tired and starving by this point, i just gave up and went home. frustrating! so, the quest for new shoes continues...

popsicles for lunch

every time brock and braxton come over i let them eat popsicles. since they are sugar free i'm not too worried about them being that unhealthy. anyway, i guess brock now associates my apartment with popsicles because when i asked him what he wanted for lunch today he replied "popscicles. a purple one." so, being the good aunt that i am, after bribing him to eat a couple chicken nuggets, i let him have a purple popsicle for lunch:

he just turned a year old and already loves the remote (and, as you can see, pulling everything off of the shelves). like father, like son:
look how good he is standing!

i wish i knew how to upload videos

but since i don't you'll just have to follow the link. megan sent me this and i laughed out loud. so funny!!
http://www.priceless.com/us/personal/en/extras/peptalks/index.html?videoname=danc_amanda&name=Amanda&email=avc1pete48@msn.com&redirect=email&GP=EMCPeyton03

in other news, i made it through my first semester as a graduate student (now i just have to wait for grades)... only about a million more to go... my goal for december is to memorize the two dances they teach you on the hairspray dvd (btw, if you haven't got it already, go buy it). also, i go back to mexico on the 16th and i am ssuuppeerr excited!!

this kid is all boy: riding a firetruck while holding a ball
... and this one is attempting to wear my high heels

...and this is why i hate her

on sunday megan got to go to the cowboy's game with her friend julie.
they had sideline passes
troy aikman
t.o.


tony "i am a piece of crap" romo
a couple other players

i did it. i did it. i did it, did it, did it.

if you now have dora the explorer now stuck in your head, my job is complete.

what exactly did i do? i finished my first 20 page paper! you remember the one i was going to do about three weeks ago? well, it is finally finished and i am super relieved. now all i have to do is submit it (it would suck if i forgot to turn it in) and hope the system doesn't lose it like it did my last paper (yeah, not happy about that one).

now i can start working on my last major paper of the semester which is due next wednesday. this one started out as supposing to be 20 pages, but then my professor cut it down to 15 and then to 12. i'm hoping when i go to class on wednesday (yes, class the night before thanksgiving) he will cut it down to about 8. this paper is on healthcare reform, so if you have an opinion, as long as it isn't crap, send it my way.

i also have to do one more computer project (BLEH!) and take my final next monday. but, then i'm done.

oh, and i might not have to go to school on saturday anymore, which would make me really happy, especially since the class i would trade to would be a whole lot more interesting.

and HAIRSPRAY COMES OUT TUESDAY!!!!!!!!!!!

ok, lots of rambling cause i'm tired/delirious, but in short, the possibility exists that if i can make it through to next wednesday and get everything done before then, life will be good.

quick update

i was going to upload pictures of brock and brax's birthday party, but my camera batteries are dead, so now i have to wait until another time when they are charged and i have an extra minute (don't hold your breath waiting).

anyway, i am sort of officially back working at emler's. until the end of the session i am subbing/d.a.-ing/working office in one location and retraining at another. silly, i know, but apparently different managers require different things. somewhat frustrating and confusing to not quite know what is expected/required. at the start of next session i will have my own classes and work the office.

as for school, i am officially done with classes november 14th, november 21st, and november 26th and have my two huge papers due november 28th. there is a lot to do between now and then. i still do not like my it/mis class but my professor still likes me. hopefully this will keep working to my benefit (meaning, hopefully he'll give me an A). next semester i am taking an online course (financial management-- apparently it is a difficult class), and then going to school on thursday (organizational behavior) and saturday (healthcare informatics). yes, saturday. crappity, crap, crap. and to make matters worse, it is an informatics class, which once again deals with computers. but, it is the only healthcare class they are offering next semester so i am stuck.

good news: waterview FINALLY came and smelled my apartment. since i moved in i have been complaining of how bad it smells and spent quite a bit of money on anti-smell stuff. they said that they put charcoal buckets in my vents and sprayed a fogger at the beginning of school, but i don't believe them. i finally had enough and sent a couple of not nice e-mails and got some real people (meaning, not maintenance men who really don't have any clout to be able to do something about it besides spray air freshener like i hadn't already thought of that) to smell my apartment. there response was: "wow, that smells awful! are you sure you don't smoke? you don't own a cat?" umm, duh, people, that is what i've been trying to tell you! they are supposed to come up with a plan of action by tomorrow. so, maybe by january my apartment will smell better.

is it creepy if the guy who lives above me (36 years old, pakistani) who has already asked to move in with me (i told him no) and asked me out (once again, i told him no) informed me that he looks over his balcony and searches for my car in the parking lot to see whether or not i'm home (he was complaining that i've been gone too much lately)?

my it/mis professor referred to quotation marks as "upside down commas" last night

brock and brax

i babysat brock and brax all day friday and got some cute pics. by the way, all the picture taking was brock's idea.

two cute boys. gotta love brock posing
thinking?
mr. mischievous

this is NOT a halloween costume. this was brock's chosen outfit for the day (until he got hot)
engrossedi love those bright blue eyes
brax thoroughly enjoyed the swing,which is where i should have left him because as soon as i let him down he attempted to eat the wood chips and the sand
this is brock's worried face. he was very unsure of the man on the giant lawn mower and wouldn't get out of the swing until he was finished. notice the etbu fan in his hand. he was using it as a stop sign, repeatedly holding it out and telling everything to stop--me, braxton, and most definitely the lawn mower man.