CECTPA ROE

At long last! I can finally say the words.......1 MORE MONTH! Gosh that felt good. I got exacataly a month's time left to put my pedal to the metal and beef up my inner spirit, because let's face it working at a pie shop that is just not happening physically. The decision to go on a mission has already started to play a great role in my life. My 18 month adventure has not even begun and I'm already beginning to feel the impact of a life that is focused on the gospel and the immense happiness it brings.

In celebration of such an occasion i was so lucky enough to get together with a darling talented friend of mine for a missionary photo shoot! I couldn't have done it without this girl, she's one of those people where you better get a signature from her quick before she's too famous to give you the time of day, I'm tell'n ya, this girl is going places! Follow her blog here and you shall see. 

 

At times i thought this month mark would never come, getting called to serve 18 months of your life across the world in Kyiv, Ukraine almost seems like a dream when 4 1/2 months of your life has only consisted of just about every food that comes in a pie crust and the phrase, "would you like whip cream on that?" Oh yes, I caught a bad case of what missionaries call being "trunkie", only in the opposite, and i gotta admit sometimes i felt the only cure would be if someone tripped, fell, and got a pie strait in the face. Hey, a girl can dream. Not going to lie though, there have been lots of memorable moments....unknowingly insulting an employees sister by identifying her mother as the women with breasts larger than my face, getting mixed up with two elderly men (because let's face it, after a while they all start to look the same) and loudly repeating multiple times to him if he wanted cream in his coffee until he tells me with an utterly confused look I don't drink coffee, burning 6 pecan pies, when i asked a table of elderly customers if i had their order and mistaking their case of Parkinson's Disease as their reply as it appeared they were shaking their heads "no", that time that i swear that Lemon Meringue pie kamikazied right out of my hands onto the floor right in front of the customer, that oh so wonderful moment when i mixed up What can i do for ya? and How can i help you? and it coming out as How can i do ya?. Let's not forget one of my personal faves when a very charismatic customer was walking out the door and turned around to yell You're a great blower! And then experiencing what it feels like to have 30 pairs of eyes burning into your blushing face.

With only a month left I'm thinking to myself hmmmm.....well now how did this happen? I still struggle to remember to pack a fresh pair of socks for the gym, let alone packing all life's necessities for a year and half. I don't even know what 6:30am looks like and soon it will be my new best friend. Many a time others can not understand me in English so heaven help the Ukrainians who have no idea what's com'n to em. But even through all these worries, occasional doubts, fears, and the fact that my stomach has become home to a swarm of butterflies, i know that anything can be done through the Lord. So Ill be sure to pack a pair of knee pads for all the praying ill be doing.

All these thoughts ran through my head as i attempted to get that 1 good shot out of the 10 not so sexy Marilyn Monroe moments. What seemed so like a dream was now feeling more like a reality, and i can't even tell you how excited i am! The time just feels right, I know that this is the time that the Lord would have me serve him. I am just feeling so blessed. My family is so blessed. I have two just beyond wonderful loving, strong, exemplary, parents who have never let me doubt their love and testimony of this gospel. I have 7 mind blowing they are so awesome siblings, who each in their own way set such an example for me. Moving into new homes, starting families, climbing their way higher in their work and schooling, i am just overwhelmed with the happiness, and how proud i am to call them mine.

So now that you're all sticky and dripping with all that sappiness let me dry you off with my personal favorite dry humor of the week. Laughter is my favorite so when i find something that can leave me laughing so hard that I'm actually silent and clapping like a retarded seal i kinda become obsessed. HERE ya go!...........did you watch it? are you dry now? OK, moving on!

And now here i am with a vast open suitcase just sitting there wide open just mocking me saying I dare you to fill me. I'm surrounded by giant piles of 'stuff' (think Hoarders, but cleaner), and clothes that i swear have mass produced since yesterday. I am already guilty of crawling into bed engrossing myself while drooling over North &South, as i hoard my mothers orthopedic candy (how do ya like that irony?) and pretend the mess is not there and that I CAN see the floor. Of coarse i regretted this decision when i woke and with every step was greeted with a stubbed toe or a banged knee. It's a new day suitcase, and today i will not be mocked.

 

You didn't honestly think i was capable of doing a windy photo shoot without some bloopers did you? Click here to see. (can you tell Ive gone a little "link" crazy?)