And the days roll on...

189 days until I have to ask an guest "Would you like to save 10% today and apply for a Target Visa card?" 189 days left until I have to stay until 11:30PM straightening up the cereal boxes for the fifth time that night. 189 days until I have to drop a quarter in a locker so I can lock my purse up. No more work for me till Winter Break!!! Tonight could not have gone any slower unless someone actually stopped time. All I could think about was that it was my last day working, and that if I could just make it through tonight, it would all be good. I really cannot believe I have 189 days until I have to punch in at Target again. That is both good and bad. It is great that I don't have to work, but it is bad that I will not be making any of the badly needed money. More than anything, I am happy I don't have to ask people the annoying question about the dumb Target Visa card.
Ok, so no more work, but that doesn't mean that I will be sitting on my behind all summer long. France is starting to become more real day after day. I finally feel like I will be there in less than a week. It is still surreal. I still remember bumping into ALP on the way to On y va with Rachel and saying that I was kind of going to the class for no good reason since I probably wasn't going to France. It is just crazy how things work out.
I am so excited for this trip, but also a little nervous. I will be there for 6 weeks, that's twice as long as I was there last time. It will be a long time away from the family, away from the familiar, away from my red beauty. But is also a long time to experience so many great things. I have the awesome opportunity to be there with a wonderful friend and another who I look forward to learning more about. I just know that the Lord is going to do so many amazing things with this trip this summer. This summer has been a busy one already, and it has barely even begun. All four of us are home this summer, but that is kind of not true. We are all working and work at different hours of the day. We actually all four at dinner together last week twice! I know that I will miss my family so much this summer. It was an extremely tough, long school year in which i missed my mom and dad and sister so much. Now, after only spending 5 weeks with them, I am jet setting off to France leaving them once again. I just really hope that I will not be too homesick.

I'm Lovin' It...

I am here to inform you of the return of the McDonald's Happy Meal box. No more bag with the chicken nuggets and toy. Kids everywhere now are able to enjoy the fun and excitement of making a tunnel or slide out of the character-covered box. There just isn't any fun found in a paper bag. So hurry, dart off to your nearest McDonald's if you are hungry, and buy one of those beloved Happy Meals. I know that the real reason you are getting them is for the toy, but now the deal is sweetened even more with the return of the box.

A Family's Love

Yesterday was the best day I have had in a long time with my mom and sister. Ever since the summer after my sister graduated from high school, it has been a rocky road between the two of us. We will have good days where we joke and laugh with each other, and then there are the bad days, where not many words are spoken to each other softer than a yell. I have always wanted that close relationship with her, but never have been able to really grasp much of one. She is just about 22 months younger than me, and only a year in school. Which makes it tough sometimes. But yesterday (or I guess by this time of night/morning it was two days ago, I will just say Wednesday) was a great day. I prayed for a long time the night before for the Lord to just help us make this day wonderful. I only have 10 days with my family before I leave for France, and once I get back there are only a few more before my sister and I leave our home for another year away at school. We needed a day to spend together, just us girls, before we went different directions. My mom needed this day more than anything. She has been suffering from what you could call the "empty-nest syndrome." It is when after raising your children, they leave home and you are stuck with an empty house. My sister and I were such a big part of my parents' lives. We both were involved in numerous sports and other extracurricular activities, that both my mom and dad kept busy running from place to place, supporting us in everything we did. But now, this last year, there hasn't been the nightly softball games after work, or the updates everyday of how our classes are going at dinner. It is just my mom and dad. I knew that this one day with us was what my mom needed! She needed to be with us girls again. So she ended up getting the day off of work and we shopped, literally, the ENTIRE day! We went up to St. Michael to the outlet mall, down to St. Louis Park, and then ended the day night at Maple Grove, listening to Tim Mahoney. We had so much fun joking with each other, trying on clothes and shoes, and talking about what was to come for all of us this next year.
Sitting outside, listening to the music, leaning against my mom, I couldn't help but be a little sad. I just finished my second year of college, only two more to go until I will be done. I have no idea right now where the Lord wants me to go, but I really know it would be hard to be far from my family. I love them so much and I love the time that we can spend together amongst are busy schedules. And this summer I will be away from them for 6 weeks! Truly away, not just a two hour drive up boring 169. I will be across the Atlantic Ocean!!! I know that I will miss them, and I am sure Mr. Kleenex will make an appearance or two. But I also know something else. That the Lord will be with me every step I take, and he has been since the beginning. It is just tough to leave the familiar and dive into the unfamiliar (even though I have been to France before). It's hard to be that far away from my family and friends for so long. So please, pray for the others and me who are going on this trip that the Lord would protect our every steps and that we would grow together as a true team. And please pray for my preparations spiritually, mentally, and with saying goodbye to my family.

France Here I Come, I Hope You Are Ready!!! Cause I'm Not...

Wow, I can not believe that at this time in just 20 days it will be 5:47 in the morning and I will be probably just be waking up to a delicious airplane breakfast. I am going ot France! It still hasn't sunk in yet. I am going to France, I A-M G-O-I-N-G T-O F-R-A-N-C-E!!! It feels like it was just yesterday when I was telling Rachel that I really don't know why I am in the On y va class because I really don't think there is anyway that I will be going on the trip. It's crazy how it all works. Now I have to prepare myself for six weeks of being away from home. First I have to get my mind ready to be speaking French for longer than I have ever had to. When I went to France in high school, it was only a three-week trip, but this is twice as long! I know it will exhaust me, everyday trying to think in French and English and not mix the two up with each other. Then there's the whole thing of being away from my family and friends for a long time. The longest I have been away from everyone is about six weeks this last spring semester of school. But I was surrounded by tons of great friends that were like family to me. I am soooooooooo thankful that I will be taking this trip with both Rachel and Rachel! Us girls are going to experience so many wonderfully, new things together. To start off, we are going to be doing a Bible study together while we are over there. It's amazing to grow with others like that in faith and strengthen our foundations together. I just can't wait to see where the Lord is going to take us this summer. The most terrifying thing that I will encounter this summer I think is the four weeks I will be staying with a French family in La Rochelle. I have been blessed with many wonderful host families over all of my trips. Only one was a little weird, and it really wasn't all that bad at all. So I shouldn't be worried, I should be trusting the Lord with the placement he has given me, but I am still nervous. I am so glad that Ms.Banfield will be staying there with me. I have been so blessed by having her in my life this year. The Lord has used her in incredible ways with my life. Not to mention all the others that are now my family! I know the Lord is going to use this time together to move us both closer to him. I am also just worried about that we will be spending to much time together. Yes there is such a thing. I know all these worries will be taken care if I do one thing: trust in the Lord. I really need to put this entire trip in his hands, he has gotten me this far I know he is the only one who is going to take me any farther.
Today, I went and visited my high school French teacher with a friend of mine, Christine, who was also in the same French class in school. We talked to Madame Carlson for over an hour about France, the trip we took two years ago, the trip she is taking this year, and just like in general. AND... she will be in France at the same time I will be! We are going to meet up for dinner or the such at least once. I am very excited that I will be in France with her again!
So yeah, the next 3 weeks will be full of packing, shopping, working, and praying for this trip(not in that order). Please keep me and Rachel and the others going on the trip in your prayers. I really need help trusting him with EVERYTHING on the trip!