My Missionary Monday

Memories, laughs, a full tummy, and a renewed appreciation for missionaries everywhere are just a few things I left with after visiting the Roughts and McGinnises a couple Mondays ago. After a rather adventurous trip to their house, I was greeted by the ever-beautiful Gretchen, warm Ryan, and was soon-after awestruck at the size of their girls! The last time I remember spending some quality time with these beauties was five years ago when I was with them for a week here on a mission trip. These young ladies before me were talking to me like the teenagers they were becoming, and I felt old! Minutes later, that dynamic duo, Jon and Joni, arrived with their whole kitten-kaboodle!  After hugging the oh-so-grown-up, Katie, and next-oldest Megan, I smiled at Lindy and JD, who simply blinked at me. These poor children had no idea who I was, but I made them hug me anyway :)

As we sat drinking coffee (of course) I updated them on all things Sarah, and then later I was privileged to get a peek into what “Missionary Talk” looks and sounds like. Planning meals, accommodations and other necessities for the pending arrival of their TACTICA team, asking questions about the correct way to conjugate a Spanish verb, and hearing about how they've been adjusting to the culture in general, left me wide eyed and speechless as I soaked it all in.

After I sat at the “grown-up” table for dinner we headed outside in the drizzle for a good ol' fashioned bonfire. It was there that I was able to hear exactly how all their kids have adjusted – especially Jon and Joni's, and the difficult decisions their families have to make regarding education for their kiddos. It suddenly occurred to me that the rather difficult time I had adjusting to this culture here for the first month or so was absolutely minuscule compared to what these family have been and are currently going through. I don't think I ever personalized their transition of packing up house and home and throwing themselves into a completely different culture...

As I hugged them all good-bye, and Ryan and Gretchen kindly drove me home with their exhausted girls, I was beyond thankful for these incredibly close-knit families willing to sacrifice everything familiar for the sake of spreading the gospel of our Savior. Wow.

So thank you – Ryan & Gretchen, Jon & Joni, and family (and missionaries everywhere) ...for everything!

Much Love,

 from a blessed, enlightened, and thankful little Darling <3

I'll leave you with some snapshots with the cutest kittens around!

 

 

 

Girls Will Be Girls!

It should not come as a surprise to me that a couple weeks after arriving here I had found some fabulous girlfriends. What also should not have surprised me were the things that brought us together. There are things that girls like, things we obsess over, things that mesmerize us, things that define us. These things, I have come to believe, are true for girls everywhere.

Do you remember in the beginning of He's Just Not That Into You when they show clips of girls all over the world discussing their boy problems? They show a clip from Africa with a woman saying “He probably just forgot your hut number,” and a clip where one British girl swears to another, “He so obviously liked you...” Well, it has been my experience that the subject of men is a universal girly topic that never ceases to unite us. Within days of knowing girls down here, we were already talking the “boy talk.” And I'm not referring to your casual “he's cute” comments, either. I'm talking about the “I have no idea what he wants!” conversations or “I think I gave him my heart...” tragedies. It is simply astonishing to me that these lovely ladies from a country so far and different from my own, are experiencing the EXACT SAME THINGS when it comes to our manly woes. What's funny too, is the way we react to one another. Always ready to give support, offer mutual hatred, or tear up over a romantic gesture. All in all, us girly girls, are all the same.

Besides men, I can promise you that the ever materialistic drive men make fun of us for is actually built into our very feminine existence. Listen (cough, DAD, cough) girls love shoes. Period. It doesn't matter if your in the US or Costa Rica, us chicas gotta have our fancy footwear. And purses. And nail polish. I'm telling you we can't help it.

It is no secret, either, that at a certain time of the month, us ladies crave a particular dark brown delicacy and turn to our favorite chick flick for it's promised comfort. This is exactly what you could find last month as one of my girlfriends and I sat on her bed in our leggings...eating chocolate and watching The Five Year Engagement...crying. This equally shared chocolate/movie necessity can be compared with that of our music needs. With a car full of girls the other week, on our way to the mall, we could be found misty-eyed while singing (loudly) to Jason Mraz's latest hit, I Won't Give Up. When it comes to our emotionally-driven chocolate craving craziness, it's been proven, we are all the same.

Lastly, I'll highlight my recently found favorite activity – watching soccer (or futbol, if you will). After Monday night Bible Studies, some of us girls can be caught sneaking into the boys' soccer van and snuggling up to one another to “watch the soccer game.” Which, every girl everywhere knows, really means to talk about our latest boy drama, shopping plans, funny stories, and future hopes and dreams. Yes, I submit to you, that female friends everywhere are all talking about the same things on the sidelines, with the occasional “Go, Fight, Win!” thrown in too.

So here we are: men-obsessed, nail-painted, fancy-shoe-wearing, top-of-our-lungs singing ladies. The following truth remains: while boys will be boys, girls will be girls. And as I close, I can't help but think of the profound title of that popular 80's hit, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, because that, my friends, sums it up pretty nicely.

Here's to you, my beloved Ticas: Maria, Maria Paula, Mela, Pipa & MJ <3

XXOO,

From a french-manicured, chocolate-splurging, Rom-Com watching, fun filled, little darling <3

 

 

 

 

p.s. I've been slacking on my Wardrobe Challenge updates...

 

 

I may have cheated a couple times...but there have been BIG sales down here...don't tell my mom!